Family Rooms

Since 2005, SiMBA have gifted over 50,000 Memory Boxes to families across the UK and Ireland providing them with invaluable support during their critical time of loss. With an 83% increase in demand in the past three years, the charity has predicted requests for another 11,000 Memory Boxes from across the UK, this year.  

But now, the combination of a surge in requests for Memory Boxes from hospitals across the UK in 2022, a significant shortfall in expected fundraising income, and soaring costs of producing, distributing, and donating to every family who needs one, has left us running desperately low on funds and unable to meet the growing demand.  

We are now focusing all our resources on our Memory Boxes. 

Sadly due to circumstances outwith our control our family room projects in both ward 10 St Johns Hospital and the Neonatal Unit in the Royal Alexandra Hospital have been dissolved. These funds will instead be used to support our core services allowing us to stabilise and move from crisis to recovery. Ensuring that we are able to provide our vital services and donate our Memory Boxes for many more years to come.   

A peaceful and private place to say goodbye

SiMBA refurbish Family Rooms within Maternity Units to offer families the opportunity to spend precious time with and prepare to say goodbye to their baby in peaceful and private accommodation. We work with each hospital to select the perfect rooms for our projects, our family rooms are ideally positioned away from the main wards but with maternity staff and medical facilities on hand. We want extended family members and friends to also be able to visit, so a family room refurbishment may include a small sitting room area that is refurbished for their use as well as counselling or support rooms in early pregnancy support units.

Family rooms are the most special place; a place where we can't change the sadness of what has happened but we can and have changed the feel and sanctuary of the space. Time spent in our family rooms making the most precious of memories together as a family or with extended family and friends is time that can never be replaced will can now be spent in the most perfect surroundings.

The design of the SiMBA family rooms are based on the footprint unveiled in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in May 2017. The family room facilities include tea/coffee making facilities, a sofa bed so that parents can stay in the room together, a mini fridge, Bluetooth speaker, parent packs full of toiletries; while the quiet room holds books of remembrance (with a cabinet specially designed for this purpose), a mini fridge and tea/coffee making facilities.

Your support has helped us to create Family Rooms in many hospitals, take a look at some of the projects completed to date.

The Lola Commons fund for SiMBA was established by Lisa Hague, SiMBA Ambassador, in 2013 following the stillbirth of her first daughter Lola in 2008.

The fund aims to redecorate and refurbish hospital rooms and provide vital equipment for them including camera equipment, fold down beds for partners to stay and Cuddle Cots - cooled mattresses specially designed to slow down the deterioration of the baby allowing parents to spend more time with their little one before they have to say goodbye. Although the fund has also supported bereavement training for Health Care professionals and students in Edinburgh & Glasgow.

In addition to the Family room refurbishments the Lola Commons Fund for SiMBA has gifted essential family room equipment to: 

Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh, The Princes Royal Maternity Unit in Glasgow, Dr Grays in Elgin, Caithness Maternity in Wick and the Royal Alexandra Maternity Unit in Paisley, Aberdeen Neonatal unit, Western Isles Hospital, Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary and many more.

* The Cuddle Cot is essentially a cool mattress specially designed to slow down the deterioration of the baby. This allows baby to remain beside their parents and allow families to have more time with their little one before they have to say goodbye. 

Lisa and her fiancee Kris Commons never spent time with Lola and not getting the chance to create memories remains one of their biggest regrets. 

Lisa said “I am so proud of the Lola Commons Fund for SiMBA, being able to support families through the trauma that Kris and myself went through is an honour. Thank you to everyone who has supported us, please continue to help us to support families through this devastating time.

Our thanks also go to the Lola Commons fund Ambassadors Neil and Joanne Alexander, who have supported SiMBA and the Lola Commons fund since January 2016.

Love,