We are delighted to announce that Sands has been awarded the Amplifying Voices award from the Sheila McKechnie National Campaigner Awards 2023 for our work on securing the confidential enquiry into the deaths of Asian and Asian British babies.  

The Sheila McKechnie Foundation (SMK) celebrates the very best of campaigns and campaigners across the UK, focusing on those that create social change and action. It is a very prestigious award, and we are delighted to be the winners.  

“Winning the Amplifying Voices Award from SMK is an incredible honour for Sands. We are grateful to SMK for recognising the importance of this campaign. This award shines a spotlight on the crucial work needed to ensure no family is overlooked, inequalities are addressed, and lives are saved.”

Dr Clea Harmer, Sands Chief Executive 

In October 2021, Sands ran a campaign to call on the Government to fund a confidential enquiry into the deaths of Asian and Asian British babies. A similar confidential enquiry into the deaths of Black and Black British babies had already been announced, but the Government were initially hesitant to run a mirroring one for Asian and Asian British babies.  

Sands campaigned throughout Baby Loss Awareness Week 2021 and beyond, meeting with MPs to run debates on the issue, writing to Ministers and asking supporters to contact their own MPs and urge them to back to call. Nearly 1,000 emails from our supporters reached close to 400 MPs across all corners of the UK. 

Sands Ambassador and trustee, Shetal Joshi, whose son Shivai died unexpectedly in 2015, used her platform to support the campaign. We reached out to Asian families who may have experienced baby loss and gave them a space for their concerns and stories to be heard.  

In March 2022, we heard that the confidential enquiry would be commissioned and importantly it would run alongside the enquiry into Black and Black British babies. This was a huge win for the campaign in ensuring that real headway would be made to make sure that lessons are learnt, and preventable deaths are avoided. 

“This vital enquiry means a lot to all bereaved Asian parents in the UK, many of whom haven’t had the answers they need for far too long as to why their babies died.”

Shetal Joshi, Sands Ambassador 

We were so pleased to be shortlisted for the SMK National Campaigner Awards and were even more over the moon to win!  

Nominated alongside Sands for the Amplifying Voices award were the Birmingham Fair Housing Campaign for their work on the social housing crisis in Birmingham and #StopTheFlights from Freedom from Torture, for their work to end deportation flights to Rwanda. A huge congratulations to both teams, and all other nominees at the awards, for their incredible campaigning work.