We are delighted to announce that SiMBA has been the awarded an £815 grant from CALA's bursary fund to allow us to create and distribute a booklet of patterns for Memory Box items and promotional materials for our craft group that we can distribute locally in the Midlothian area and beyond.
We currently hold a fortnightly drop-in session for volunteers who knit / sew / crochet in our offices in McSense Business Park, Mayfield but we are looking to increase this to encourage more people to help create items for our Memory Boxes, such as teddies, butterflies and blankets.
Gillian Wells, Events & Partnerships Officer with SiMBA, said: “We are absolutely delighted to be awarded funding from CALA Homes as part of this year’s bursary.
“The pain of losing a baby is an unimaginable feeling. At SiMBA, we offer support to help guide bereaved parents and families through this tragic time, and provide memory boxes as way of cherishing moments with their little ones.
“The boxes contain knitted blankets, teddies and crochet butterflies. We currently have more than 1,000 volunteers who help knit these for the memory boxes, which are donated to 261 hospital units across the UK and Ireland.
“Right now we are mainly encouraging people to get involved through social media, but we plan on using the money from CALA Homes to reach out to those who don’t use social media and create posters and a physical knitting book to distribute to them, we would also love to visit any local established craft groups to share our patterns and see if they can help us. We want to reach those who don’t have access to the internet and help to raise awareness for our services.
“We are always on the lookout for more people to help us to create items for our beautiful Memory Boxes, and provide families with a way of making timeless memories with their baby."
The craft group currently meet in our offices every second Tuesday from 10am - 2pm and everyone is welcome. If you would like more information or would like to join our group please email enquiries@simbcharity.org.uk or call 0131 353 0055