Henry King, Treasurer

Our first child, Polly, was stillborn on 18th August 1998 following a massive placental abruption.  My wife Helen came close to dying in the night before Polly was born and initially one of my principal emotions was relief that Helen had survived.  Our midwife suggested we should contact Sands, and then chased us to do so.  Helen originally went to the group alone and received amazing support from her befriender.  I became involved when in 1999 we found that we were expecting another baby.  I found the pregnancy support group a great help.  I was amazed that amidst the shared grief and worry there was laughter as well as tears.

My involvement grew as Helen became the South West London group co-ordinator and inevitably I saw more at first hand of the ongoing support which Sands offers.  However, by the time we passed our 10 year anniversary, Helen had passed on the co-ordinator role and our involvement with Sands had dwindled to attending social events.  As a qualified accountant and lawyer I felt I had something to offer to national Sands and I was delighted to be accepted as a co-opted member of the board of Trustees in 2009.

Sands has grown rapidly, particularly in recent years, and is now a major charity with an annual income of over £1m.  The central challenge which I see for us in the future is the consolidation of our structure so that on a national level we can most effectively advance our second and third aims - improving the quality of care offered to the newly bereaved and promoting research to reduce the number of bereavements in future.