Walking 4 Barney

Lincolnshire Dad, Martin Brewin raised over £14,000 for Sands during Awareness Month, by walking 150 miles from his home in Lincolnshire to his office in central London.  The epic walk took Martin six days, the equivalent of walking a marathon a day!

Martin and his partner Suzanne’s son, Barney Thomas Nelson Stevens-Brewin, was stillborn last November, after 27 weeks of an uncomplicated pregnancy.

Martin: "When Barney was stillborn we thought we were a 1 in a million statistic but we, like many other Sands parents, found that stillbirth is far more common than we had ever imagined. We very much felt at the time, and still do, that stillbirth just seems to be swept under the carpet. We wanted to raise awareness of stillbirth and neonatal death and let the Mums and Dads and families affected know that there is support out there for them. So we decided to take action, which is why we launched Walking 4 Barney, our 150 mile walk to work, to raise money for Sands and publicise the vital work Sands does in the fields of research, training, support and awareness.   I’m delighted that our efforts have raised funds for Sands, but also, I hope, the walk has increased the awareness of how often parents find themselves having to deal with such a devastating loss."

Martin was accompanied on his marathon walk by Suzanne’s Dad, Dave Stevens and great friend Sean Galloghly. The trio were accompanied on their walk by life size walking, talking, mascot Barney Bear who carried the donation bucket for the team.The trio walked through Bourne, Peterborough, St Neots, Hatfield, Stevenage, South Mimms and into central London.

Clare Albert accompanied them for the last 5 miles of the walk into London. Clare walked in memory of her niece Jemma and raised a magnificent £1,000.

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