THE RED NEWS

 - January 2022 - 

We are so proud to announce that with your support, YOU have raised

$69,528

towards funding our Counsellors to attend to families following the death of a child...and walking the journey of grief with the much needed support to survive.

- Barossa Fresh - 

SIDS and Kids SA was chosen as the charity of choice for Barossa Fresh Supermarket. Throughout 2021 they conducted fundraising activities and raffles with all proceeds coming directly back to us. The fundraising activities were kicked off with the Running for Sam fundraiser with our very own Finance Manager, Lisa, running the first 10km of the targeted 100km in honour of Sam Grope. This took place in the mall outside the Barossa Fresh!

- The Marion Hotel -

2021 saw us selected as the charity partner for the second year at the Marion Hotel Melbourne Cup event. This is always a great day with amazing funds raised.

Jessica Adamson hosts this amazing event with great passion and enthusiasm for SIDS and Kids SA and The Marion Hotel run a professional yet fun day out for all who attend.

- Cops for Kids -

This grant allowed us to develop and roll out a grief and loss training program for schools and childcare to support children as they return after the death of a loved one. Many children lose a parent, grandparent or sibling and having the school/childcare community know how to support and care for this child as they return after the death is important. Read more about this training program in Kat’s 'Community Liaison Manager' section below.

Board Changes

2021 saw a change in Board members. Helen Shaw stepped off the Board after many years of wonderful service and we welcomed two new members – Andrew Myers and Kellie Hall.

SIDS and Kids SA have been serving the South Australian community for 45 years and any funds raised in SA stay here to support South Australian families. We receive no government funding so supporting our fundraising events and donating money or services helps to ensure that our vital services will continue, so a huge THANK YOU to each and every person (or organisation) who purchased a raffle ticket, held a community fundraiser or donated goods.

A message from our Counsellors – Jaylene and Dorothy

2021 was a very busy year. We had a total of 169 referrals between January and December.  141 of these families experienced a loss during their pregnancy, 22 families suffered the death of a child under 1 year of age and a further 6 families the death of a child over 1 year of age.

We also continued to support families from previous years as needed on the continuing journey. We feel grateful that we were able to continue our work despite the circumstances of the pandemic.

Both Jay and I are honoured to walk with parents and support them as they navigate their individual journey. Writing cards on anniversary dates and to remember parents at Mother’s Day and Father’s Day is a meaningful way to individually honour their child and in this past year when we have been more restricted and isolated as a community this has felt important.

Sadly, our support groups were not able to happen, but we did manage to host a special Mother’s Day afternoon tea for bereaved mothers at West Beach Apex Park centre and a candle decorating evening in October in preparation for the global Wave of Light as part of Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month. This provided a special opportunity for bereaved mothers to meet and connect and share.

Another special occasion was our memorial service on Sunday 24^th October 2021 which we held at Henley Beach on the sand. This was a really special time of remembering for the families that could attend and another opportunity for families to meet and share.

We received some lovely feedback on the impact that our grief counselling service has on bereaved parents and the staff that support them.

“I’ll be forever grateful and always remember what you have done for me just by calling back after I thought I was all alone. Thank you from the bottom of my heart”

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“Having the counselling avenues to grieve openly and unjudged helped me to find a way to move forward with everyday life”

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“Thank you for the amazing work you do to support families during these profound times of grief and for extending yourselves to come and meet with our team and build up a strong referral network. It is greatly appreciated and always good to know when they leave hospital they are followed up by a brilliant service and we know they are in safe hands!”

A message from our Community Liaison Manager – Kat

What a year! And what a Team!  It is such a privilege to be a part of a remarkable group of women working to support the South Australian Bereaved Community.  And 2021 was no exception.  With the challenges posed by Covid-19 and the changing face of the Not-For-Profit sector with Fundraising and Education, we managed to introduce new initiatives to safely engage our Community and raise much needed funds to support our Counselling Service.

Wear Red Instead Awareness Campaign  

As part of International Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness month in October, SIDS and Kids SA introduced a brand new campaign "Wear Red Instead", asking the community to show support for friends, family members or work colleagues who had experienced child or pregnancy loss by wearing something red (red lipstick, nail polish, tie, t-shirt, red cap) and then posting to social media with the #wearredinstead hashtag.

It was fabulous to see our local community of supporters jump onboard and post their pics to Socials.  We would love to see this Awareness Campaign taken to another level in 2022 in support of everyone struggling the silent journey of childloss.  It costs nothing to start the conversation and post a picture in support of those around you on a grief journey of loss.

A very special shoutout goes to one of beautiful supporters who, following a recent loss, chose to 'give back' to SIDS and Kids SA, hosting a morning tea at both her workplace and sporting club, asking people to 'Wear Red Instead' and start the conversation about childloss.  We are filled with gratitude and our hearts are warmed by the efforts of beautiful Ebony and her support network to raise awareness of SIDS and Kids SA and the services we offer the South Australian Community.  Thank you xxxx

" Be Bold. Wear Red" Fundraising Campaign

Since the final days of Red Donut Day, and the necessary changes required to meet Covid-19 mandates and restrictions, the introduction of "Be Bold. Wear Red" has created an amazing opportunity for our Community to once again get involved and support SIDS and Kids SA.  In it's 2nd year, we were thrilled with the number of Organisations jumping onboard this new initiative!

In another year filled with uncertainty, the 37 Workplaces, Schools and Childcare Centres who participated in  the "Be Bold. Wear Red " Campaign raised an outstanding:

$9555.90!

We hope that 2022 sees a growth in the number of participating workplaces and the funds raised increase even further to support our Counselling and Education Services.  We will communicate with all supporters in June to initiate the Campaign and prepare you with merch and starter kits to get you up and running for the 2022 "Be Bold. Wear Red Instead" Fundraiser!

The Coastal Walk of Support

Against all the odds, the wind, the rain.....the cold temperatures off the ocean, we successfully completed an amazing event honouring and supporting our Bereaved Families and their beautiful children.  The Coastal Walk of Support for 2021 may have looked a little different to how we envisaged it, but the purpose of the day was not lost. And for that we are very proud of our Community.  Funds raised support the Grief Counsellors to maintain all counselling services with the increasing number of referrals from our Government Agencies and Hospitals.

   How can you get involved?

SAVE THE DATE FOR COASTAL WALK OF SUPPORT 2022

WHEN: Sunday the 13th of November 2022

WHERE: To be advised (We are changing the location of the Start/Finish Line!)

TIME: 10am

We will notify you via email when registrations open.

Grief and Loss in Children - Education Session for Teachers and Child Care Workers.

Through the funding support of Cops for Kids, SIDS and Kids SA have released an educational tool for ALL educators in Schools and childcare Centres to assist teachers in understanding Grief and Loss in Children.

Having completed 16 sessions in various educational settings throughout Adelaide, it has been not only a privilege to meet dedicated staff keen to embrace and understand, but it has shown the 'gap' in the professional development of teachers in the area of grief and loss. Through offering this program as an ongoing Professional Development option, we are hoping to bridge the gap and increase confidence and understanding.

Registration is open for Sessions running in 2022.  Email administration@sidssa.org.au for further information, fees and outlines.

Feedback

"The most engaging presentation I have attended in a while. Presentation was excellent, I would love the opportunity for further learning/development & would come back for a longer session in future if available. The presentation was engaging and a good mix of personal/clinical perspective on grief. I found the tips for what to say and behaviours to keep an eye on, helpful as well as information about what services do what, as it gives me a better idea of what resources to recommend, Thank you."

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"Kat was a fantastically engaging presenter. This grief presentation is one of (if not the most) helpful presentations I have attended in my professional career. Highly recommend to anyone. Kat covered an amazing amount of information in a short space of time, thank you so much for sharing your story with us Kat - incredibly courageous & powerful"

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"A wonderful program that is just what teachers, educators, parents, and people working with children need to be knowledgeable in."

A message from our Education Manager – Liza

2021 was a really busy year for our education service with the roll out of a safe sleep training initiative for the Department for Education. SIDS and Kids SA provided 25 face to face/zoom training sessions to 342 Family Day Care educators and staff all around South Australia.

In addition to this, our education service provided training sessions to the childcare and foster care sector as well as expectant parents. Our safe sleep information service provided information to 402 phone/email/Facebook/follow up enquiries.

Education Stats 2021

Total number of training sessions              60

  Total number of attendees                           936

Breakdown of Training Audience

Family Day Care                                             42%

Childcare                                                         37%

Safe Sleep information session                   10%

Foster Care Agency                                         8%

Community                                                       3%

Feedback

“Thank you, Liza. You have been so flexible and accommodating over the past several months and can I say patient (with capital P) in working with us”

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“Thank you once again for a fantastic training. Your resources and feedback are exceptional”

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“Thank you for the training provided last night. It was very thorough and a must for us educators”

Pizza night at the Feathers - Truly loved meeting some of our wonderful families.

Melbourne Cup 2021 – I was fortunate enough to be included in helping to make Melbourne Cup at the Marion Hotel such a huge success. I felt so very proud to be a part of our fabulous team.

Coastal Walk of Support – WOW is all I can say! I helped organise this phenomenal event which blew our small team away because of the generosity and engagement from our special community.

From 1^st of January 2021 to 31^st of December 2021, SIDS and Kids SA with the help of the SA Community raised a total of $148,642. This amount contributes to the running cost of our valuable services provided here in South Australia.

Can’t wait to see what 2022 has instore for me.

FINAL NOTE FROM THE TEAM

2021 had its many challenges, but it was also an exciting year with new initiatives and programs introduced into the South Australian Community.  With our busiest year for referrals, our Grief Counsellors did an exceptional job of providing the upmost care for our bereaved families.  With YOUR ongoing support in 2022, we hope to raise the much needed funds to ensure this service continues.

If you would like to get involved in the SIDS and Kids SA Fundraising Calendar, become a Volunteer or require support from our Grief Counsellors, please contact us at 8332 1066 or email administration@sidssa.org.au.

We look forward to the year ahead and will keep in contact in coming weeks with everything you need to know about upcoming fundraisers and events.

Take care and well wishes,

The SIDS And Kids SA Team

17 Hindmarsh Place, HINDMARSH SA, 5007

Call 08 8332 1066

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