Dear Supporters!

My name is Steffen Krause and my wife and I lost our son Alexander Jan who was born asleep 4 days after his due date on 18 December 2008.

His little feet will never walk this earth, but every step of the way that is before us we will remember him and love him. I have never been a runner, so doing something like the British London 10k Run seems like an appropriate challenge to honour Alexander's memory.

The charity I have chosen to support with this run is SANDS - the national charity for Stillbirth and Neonatal Death - SANDS (50%) and also our local branch Surrey Sands (50%), to help our local hospital (the Royal Surrey - where Alexander Jan was born) in its care and support of bereaved parents.

On average 17 babies die every day in the UK of stillbirth or neonatal death - that is 6,500 babies every year. The public is not generally aware of this shocking figure. Most people think stillbirths don’t happen in the 21st century. Yet stillbirth in the UK is 10 times more common than cot death. For more information visit the website of the SANDS campaign WHY 17.

SANDS has mainly three aims:
- support anyone affected by the death of a baby;
- work with health professionals to improve the quality of care and services provided to bereaved parents and their families;
- promote changes in antenatal practice and fund research that could help to reduce the loss of babies' lives.

Half of any sponsorship money that you give will go towards the 'Forget-Me-Not' project, which is a project to create a new suite of rooms at the Royal Surrey to give other parents who go through a similar experience to us, a tranquil, private setting. The existing room at the hospital is very close to the main maternity wards and is a small, rather clinical room.  The hospital would like to create a new ‘Forget-Me-Not Suite’ providing a larger bedroom area, a proper en-suite bathroom and a nurses room so that baby can remain close to its parents.  We would also hope to provide space for Dad to sleep and for siblings to play.  The latest costings for this project are in the region of £40k.

For more information please visit:
http://www.surrey-sands.org.uk/

Note 1 - Royal Surrey is also raising money towards this project.  Any monies raised through this Justgiving page in excess of the amount required for the project will be donated to Surrey Sands to support other parents and hospitals within Surrey.

Note 2 - Donating through Justgiving is quick, easy and totally secure. It’s also the most efficient way to donate: Sands gets your money faster and, if you’re a UK taxpayer, Justgiving makes sure 25% in Gift Aid, plus a 3% supplement, are added to your donation.  50% of all monies donated will go to National SANDS, and 50% to Surrey Sands in aid of the ‘Forget-Me-Not Room’.  The Gift Aid element will be retained by National Sands to support their work.

Thank you for your support!

Steffen