FAQs

You really have done something amazing by fundraising for us - so please make sure those hard earned pounds get to us. We'll make sure they go towards the greatest need.

Online: If you have registered with Sands and used your Sands fundrasing page there is no need to do anything, the money will come to us automatically. The same applies for JustGiving pages. 

Over the phone: Call our Supporter Care Team and pay in your sponsorship money over the phone using your debit or credit card by calling 020 3897 3415 Monday – Friday, 09:00 to 17:00. (Please note we are a small team so if we don't answer straight away please leave a message and we will get back to you.)

At a Bank: If you would like to make a direct transfer of money from your bank account or pay over the counter at Lloyds TSB (England and Wales), Halifax (Northern Ireland) and Bank of Scotland (Scotland) please call our Supporter Care Team 0203 908 5525 and they will provide you with the bank details. 

By post: Simply make your cheque payable to 'Sands’ and pop it in the post. Please don’t send cash in the post. Send it to: Sands, 10-18 Union Street, London, SE1 1SZ

Don't forget your Cash counting form and any paper sponsorship forms so we can claim valuable Gift Aid

When you register your fundraising with Sands you’ll be given access to our range of free downloadable resources. 
You are welcome to contact the team for t-shirts, banners and other items which can be posted to you. We don’t charge for our resources because we want to help make your fundraising as successful as possible. But please only request the resources that you really think you will need. If you are able to and would like to contribute to the cost of your fundraising resources, you can purchase t-shirts and some materials directly through our online shop.

Hosting a raffle can be a great way to raise funds, however, there are many rules around raffles so it is important you gather all the information and make sure yours is legal. For further guidance please read our Raffle and Lotteries document. 

If you set up an online fundraising page, your donors will be prompted to fill in the GiftAid details on their individual donation.

If your donors or sponsors are UK taxpayers, don’t forget to ask them to GiftAid their donations. Please encourage your sponsors to complete their Surname, Initial and full address on any sponsorship forms as we need this information to successfully claim GiftAid.  By adding GiftAid, we can make 25p for every £1 given. This means even more money goes towards saving babies’ lives – and it doesn’t cost you or your supporters a penny.

We are sorry, but we aren’t able to promote individual’s fundraising events on our social channels. But we are happy to share any links you post on Instagram and Facebook Stories if you tag us @Sands on Facebook and @sandscharity on Instagram.

Spreading the word far and wide about your fundraising is so much more successful when it comes from you! 

We’re delighted that you want to want to fundraise for us! Our work is dependent on donations and it means you want to join us and share our vision; of a world where fewer babies die, and where every bereaved family gets the care and support they need, when they need it, for as long as they need it.  

Once you’ve got a fundraising idea, register your event and tell us about it. Our Fundraising team can support you to make whatever you are doing a success.

Our friendly Fundraising team are also on hand to answer any questions you may have, email fundraising@sands.org.uk or leave a message on our answer phone - 020 3897 6092.

Follow the registration process as normal, this can become your main team page.

Make sure you enable others to be able to join your page within the registration form. 

Once the page is created people will be able to click a 'join the team' button from your fundraising page, setting up their own personal fundraising page that links back to yours. 

It is important you adhere to the Sands Fundraising Agreement  when fundraising in aid of Sands. Below are some further documents that provide hints and tips in all areas of fundraising, if you have further questions please don't hesitate to get in touch at fundraising@sands.org.uk 

• Keep it safe - Keep it legal
• Planning your fundraising event for Sands
• Raffles and Lotteries
• Paying in Form with Cash Counting Template

Register your event with Sands and your fundrasing page will be create automatically! 

Yes of course we’d love you to join #TeamSands! Check out all our upcoming events and see if there is something you fancy. If you have a specific question about a run, walk or another event, feel free to get in touch with our Challenge Events Team.

Sands is a national organisation with local roots. We share the same vision, mission, aims, objectives, values and goal across the UK – a world where few babies die and less families need our support. To fulfil these important aims and objectives Sands work is dependent on donations. Read more about our aims and strategy.

All the valuable funds that you raise will support activities linked to the core charitable aims of Sands.

All funds raised will be spent where the need is greatest, helping Sands to continue to deliver its vital services to support anyone affected by babyloss, to improve the bereavement care received by parents and families, and to promote research to save babies' lives.

Yes, we do! Here are a few stats you can share:

£10 - could provide 3 families with a Sands birth certificate for a baby whose birth cannot be registered through a register office.

£25 - could provide a bereaved family with a memory box to help create and keep safe precious and lasting memories of their baby.

£36.02 - could answer a call from someone reaching out for support who has been through pregnancy loss or the death of a baby.

£98.37 - could help ensure every hospital in the UK has a dedicated Sands volunteer to help healthcare professionals access our training, guidance and support.

Groups: Go to our Groups section of our website to find the group nearest to you - Find your nearest group. Follow their links to see if they are activly fundrasing for a project in the local area. If they are and you would like your fundrasing to support their efforts then email supportercare@sands.org.uk 

Areas of work: Donations that are unrestricted give us far greater flexibility. They ensure that your gifts are put to use when and where they are most needed to support bereaved families throughout the UK. Although it is sometimes possible to restrict your donation to a particular area of our work, this can really limit the effectiveness of our planning. If you do want to support a particular area of our work, please email supportercare@sands.org.uk

1. Treat your fundraising page as your own unique paying in page. When your event has finished, pay your money on to your page. It's great way to show supporters the total raised! And it also helps us to keep processing and admin costs at a minimum. 
2. Gain support from those who can't be part of your event. Just because someone can't attend or join on the day of your activity, they may still want to offer you support. Sharing your page is a great way to encourage donations of support from those who want to wish you the best, even if they cant be there! 
3. Use it to take cash free donations/payments at your event! Create a QR code and you can go cash free. We recommend using an free online tool to create your QR code, QR code Monkey, is one we know many people have used before. Simply copy in your fundraising page URL and click 'create', your QR code will be generated for free. (Be aware that with some online tools there may be time limits on the QR code or limits on the amount your can create.)

Your celebratory badges will appear at key milestones during your fundraising journey, for example, when you’ve reached your activity and/or fundraising goal. These can be found via ‘My Achievements’ tab on your profile and will be displayed on your fundraising page. If you’ve completed a milestone, but your badge isn’t showing, please get in touch with us at fundraising@sands.org.uk , and we’ll get it sorted for you. 

If you are having issues accessing your profile, try resetting your password, if still no luck then email fundraising@sands.org.uk and we can help. 

If you’d like to use our logo as part of your fundraising for publicity or in any other way, we ask that you use our 'In Support of' logo which is specially designed for these occasions. Please email fundraising@sands.org.uk who can send this to you. 

Absolutely! If it’s a fundraiser with colleagues you can register your fundraiser with Sands, once a page is set up you can invite others to join your team! - 

If your company would like to get involved in other ways, such as nominating us for a Charity of the Year or donating a percentage of sales of a product towards our work, please get in touch with Sands Corporate Partnerships Team either by calling 0203 897 3444 or emailing corporate.partnerships@sands.org.uk

It can depend. Availability of people equipped to talk confidently about Sands can vary across the country. Please get in touch at least four weeks before your event so we can do our best to send someone along. If there’s no one available to attend we can provide a film or presentation about our work instead. Contact our Fundraising Team by email - fundraising@sands.org.uk ,they will be happy to help. 

Sands Volunteers and supporters have for many years used balloon releases as a way of raising awareness and remembering their babies who have died, and we recognise that these events hold great impact and significance for bereaved families. Over recent months and years the environmental damage done by balloons to wildlife and oceans has become recognised, and opinion on releases both from Sands’ members and the general public has changed. The reputational risk to regional groups as well as Sands nationally is increasing, alongside the significant damage caused to the environment by such events.

Sands seeks to support bereaved parents to remember their babies in ways which are both personally significant and which have an impact on raising awareness of the issues around baby loss, but without compromising the environment or distracting from Sands vital work around baby loss.

Position

It is now widely known that balloon and sky lantern releases have the potential to impact adversely upon the environment.  Sands takes its responsibility to protect the environment very seriously.

Sands believes:

1. There is a risk of harm or death to wildlife and livestock (ingestion, entanglement, entrapment, panic) from released balloons and sky lanterns.
2. Unexpired sky lanterns pose a significant and very real fire hazard.
3. Both contribute to the defacement of land by litter and waste.
4. Helium supplies are finite and scarce – and are needed for machines such as MRI scanners.

Sands will therefore not encourage the use of balloons or sky lanterns for releases and will work actively with supporters and volunteers to find environmentally friendly alternatives.

Views from other organisations

Many councils and local authorities are voting to ban balloon and lantern releases.

The Chief Fire Officers Association, National Farmers Union, Women’s Farmers Union, Marine Conservation Society, Country Land Owners Association, Newmarket Stud Farmers Association and RSPCA are amongst those urging individuals to use alternatives to balloons and sky lanterns and to ask event planners and retailers to use alternatives as well. Fire and Rescue Groups, Master Thatchers and Wildlife Trusts have also noted their concerns or called for a ban.

There is more information on the impact on wildlife and issues around Helium.

Butterfly releases

Sands does not support the release of butterflies for remembrance events due to the following wildlife concerns:

• Butterfly releases disturb the natural distribution of species and the study thereof.
• Bred butterflies may have different genetic traits from wild ones and releases may disrupt the genetics of natural populations.
• There is a risk of spreading diseases to a wild populations already at risk.
• Releases send the wrong message regarding human attitudes towards nature and detracts from the real issues facing butterfly populations.

Dove releases

There is concern from the RSPCA and other animal welfare charities about the use of doves in releases for events and again in terms of animal welfare and environmental issues Sands is unable to support dove releases.

Bio-degradable balloons

Biodegradable balloons are damaging to the environment as they take 4-5 years to degrade and have the same potential impact on wildlife. While much of the balloon might disintegrate over time, the knot and some of the latex remains long after you said your goodbyes, while their strings entangle wildlife.

Sands will therefore not encourage the use of bio-degradable balloons for releases.

Alternative Remembrance Events

We have collected together many very special alternatives to balloon releases which Sands volunteers and supporters across the country have suggested/used.  These include:

• Blow bubbles into the breeze: for an eco-friendly way to remember.
• Foam shape machines can blow foam butterflies or other shapes skyward.
• Flower/petal drops into rivers – flower heads are dropped and floated downstream – a powerful way to let go by watching petals float away.
• Create a line of pebbles marked with babies names.
• Bulb planting – this can be done in conjunction with local authority parks departments to provide an increasing display year on year in a town or country park.
• Plant a tree: it will last many lifetimes and will support more life.
• Throw wild flower bombs: again they create more life, and a riot of colour for years to come.
• Rice paper boats can be named and sailed down river.
• Coloured strings of lights.
• Write your best memories in chalk: they will stay for a little while then will be washed away, without causing harm but you can take a photo of them to hold forever.
• Write names in the sand.
• Have a ribbon event.

Here is a blog written by a bereaved Dad about balloon releases and beautiful alternatives.

Get in touch with Sands Fundraising team to discuss the suggestions further or to share your own ideas.