SiMBA

Who we are:

SiMBA founded in 2005; we offer a range of support and services to anyone who has been affected by the loss of a baby at any stage of pregnancy or after birth.

What we offer:

We donate Memory Boxes to help families gather memories of the time that they spent with their baby.

We refurbish Family Rooms giving families a peaceful homely place in the hospital to spend precious time with their baby.
We fundraise to install SiMBA Trees of Tranquility, which are stunning hand crafted, life sized sculptures, made from copper, where each leaf on the tree honours a baby who has died.
We also offer monthly bereavement support groups across Scotland, 24 hour online support via our closed Facebook pages.
Organise family friendly awareness events throughout the year.
In conjunction with CHAS, we offer free bereavement and palliative care study days for students and health professionals and anyone supporting bereaved families.

The way that we approach families, and the way that we help them to make memories is incredibly important; even the smallest gesture can mean the world. Our job is to empower parents, to take away their fear if we can by encouraging them to hold and cuddle their baby and create memories that can never be taken away. Each time a parent looks into their Memory Box, we want it to be full of memories; time spent with their baby, time creating the clay imprint kits, inkless certificates, making hand and foot prints together, taking photos together. A Memory Box is often described as a parent's most treasured possession.

How to contact us:

Tel: 0131 353 0055
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.simbacharity.org.uk

Latest

Festival Volunteering FAQs
London to Brighton Cycle

London - Brighton
Opinion: Why bereavement awareness needs to be on the business agenda

Jane Wood, CEO of Homes for Scotland and Scotland Advisor for Child Bereavement UK, writes about the importance of embedding bereavement awareness in businesses across the UK.
Petition launched calling for a register of bereaved children

A petition, backed by Winston's Wish, Child Bereavement UK and the Childhood Bereavement Network, is calling on government to create a register of bereaved children.

West Lothian Educational Psychology Service

Along with staff from the Looked After Children Team and Children and Young People’s Team, we run Give Us A Break groups throughout West Lothian. These groups offer support for any young person who has experienced a loss of any kind. The groups run for 8 weeks in or out of school and offer peer support with two experienced and trained facilitators. The groups are appropriate for young people in P6 and above.
Team Jak Foundation

We support children and young people with cancer and related illnesses and their families and friends on their journey and those bereaved. We offer counselling and one-to-one support for children and young people, siblings and parents, drop-in sessions, music, play and alternative therapies from Jak’s Den- our purpose built haven for our families; and outreach to the hospitals and at home for those unable to attend. Families can contact us directly on the number below or through our website.
Scottish Cot Death Trust

The Trust is the only cot death charity in Scotland. The Trust is available to any family affected by the sudden, unexpected death of a baby or young child under 5 years of age.
Held In Our Hearts – Baby Loss Counselling and Support

Formerly SANDS Lothians, Held in our Hearts are a local charity who offers support, understanding and help, both of a practical and emotional nature to bereaved parents who have experienced the death of a baby through miscarriage, stillbirth or soon after birth. What we offer: We are here to offer support for as long as required and offer person-centred support through various monthly support groups, one to one befriending and free counselling both in Edinburgh and West Lothian.
Richmond's Hope

Richmond’s Hope was founded in 2003 to support children from Edinburgh and the Lothians who have been bereaved. Since opening we have supported more than 3000 children and their families.
Grief Matters Service

Counselling service for 12 – 18 year olds affected by sudden and unexpected death of family or close friend. Bereavement could have occurred in earlier childhood or recent months but is having a significant impact on day-to-day functioning for the young person. The service is part of West Lothian Drug and Alcohol service but the death does not need to be substance related.
ARC (Antenatal Results and Choices)

ARC is the only national charity helping parents and healthcare professionals through antenatal screening and its consequences and continuing that support to those parents who have made that difficult choice and have had the traumatic experience of terminating their pregnancy.

Telling a child that someone has died

It is important to tell a child of any age when someone important in their lives has died, and ideally this is done by someone who is closest to them.
Supporting bereaved children and young people

Children and young people grieve just as much as adults but they show it in different ways. Find out how you can help them and more about child grieving.
Grieving for a child of any age

The agony of losing a child of any age is unparalleled. There is no age or point in time that makes it any easier. No parent expects to face the death of their child and no grandparent expects to lose their grandchild.
When a grandparent dies - the impact on children and young people

The death of a grandparent is often a child or young person’s first encounter with the death of someone important. Parents have a great deal to manage when their own parent or carer dies. There is the grief associated with their own loss, but also the reactions and responses of their children to the death of a grandparent.
Children's understanding of death at different ages

Babies and young children have no understanding of the concept of death yet, long before they are able to talk, babies are likely to react to upset and changes in their environment brought about by the absence of a significant person.
Child Bereavement UK training

Child Bereavement UK designs and delivers training for professionals in health and social care, education, the emergency services and the voluntary and corporate sectors, equipping them to provide the best possible care to bereaved families.
Contact us

Contact details for our Helpline, departments and services.
When your baby dies

When a baby lives only a short time or dies before birth due to miscarriage, stillbirth or a painful decision to end the pregnancy, people may assume that the loss is not important. This is simply not the case.
Children's understanding of death at different ages

Guidance on children's understanding of death at different ages and stages of development.
UK death & bereavement statistics

A parent of children under 18 dies every 22 minutes in the UK; around 23,600 a year. This equates to around 111 children being bereaved of a parent every day.