Picture: Michael Parkes Fundraiser & Communications Officer at Scottish Cot Death Trust (left) and George McLean, Fuze Brand Ambassador (right)
Can you start by telling us about your wonderful charity and the great work that you do?
The charity was founded in 1985 and is Scotland’s only charity dedicated to the issue of sudden unexpected death in infants (SUDI) and young children (SUDC). We support families by providing the type of support that they need, when and where they need it. We really believe that with person centred support for individual family members, they can each move forward to live a full and rewarding life after experiencing such a traumatic bereavement.
Family members can pick and choose from this suite of support, dipping in and out as they need them. We understand needs change and so the support people want will change over time to.
Grief is unique to a person and so are their support needs. Having outreach support services means our professional bereavement support workers can meet with those affected where and when they want – this could be in your home, in a café, or maybe going for a walk. There is also ongoing contact with the support worker for as long as it is needed.
Counselling and play therapy allow parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters and other close family members to work through specific problems they have with a counsellor who understands what the family has experienced. All counselling is provided free of charge. In addition our peer support groups, and one to one befriending can be a valuable source of support also. All of our befrienders have undergone training to help support others affected by the sudden death of their baby or young child.
We understand more now than in 1985 about how a baby’s sleep environment and things such as tobacco and drugs and alcohol use in pregnancy, as well as what they are exposed to after birth, play a part in the risk of a sudden death. Scottish Cot Death Trust works hard to get clear, transparent safe sleep messages out to the public. All of our messaging is evidence based, following the strongest research evidence replicated by researchers across the world.
Those sudden sleep related deaths that we do not understand properly yet, need researchers across the world to keep looking into. Scottish Cot Death Trust funds medical research into the cause(s) of these tragic deaths, so that one day we can understand why they happen and help prevent these too. Our mission is to eradicate all sudden and unexpected sleep related infant death.
The Trust always aims to educate on safe sleep and reducing the risks – click here to learn more
Tell us about your role at Scottish Cot Death Trust?
In my role as Fundraiser and Communications Officer at Scottish Cot Death Trust, I aim to raise as much funds and awareness for the charity across Scotland as possible. Always ensuring the people who support our charity are able to maximise their fundraising whilst at the same time enjoy supporting us and get what they need personally from their efforts.
Getting to know the families who have been affected by the sudden unexplained death in infants (SUDI), and keeping them up to date with opportunities to share their story, which help others affected to not feel so alone. Spreading the word about how people can take part in and fundraise is also something I look after. Events such as the Kiltwalks, abseils, zip slides, and bucket collections during large events are all great ways for anyone to play their part. Corporate partnerships and collaborations, such as our new relationship with The Fuze Foundation are also vitally important and help us educate and fundraise through other organisations.
Finding new opportunities for businesses, individuals and groups to support Scottish Cot Death Trust is essential and this networking helps us widen the visibility of the charity to further educate on the causes and prevention of SUDI.
A lot of my work also focusses on raising awareness across our social media channels. Sharing news from the charity and campaigns on specific topics such as Baby Loss Awareness Week in October and Safe Sleep education.
We also asked Lynsay Allan, Executive Director, Scottish Cot Death Trust Trust to explain her role?
I am Executive Director, which means I am responsible for the day to day running of all the services we provide, managing staff and volunteers and the relationships with our outreach bereavement support workers and counsellors. Making sure the charity runs as efficiently as possible is important. It is great for people to know that when they raise funds for Scottish Cot Death Trust 90p in every £1 raised goes directly towards our charitable services.
As we are such a small charity, I have the privilege of being hands on and get to know the families we support. I am also involved in delivering some education around safe sleep messaging and educating people about what happens after a baby or young child dies from sudden unexplained death in infants (SUDI) or sudden unexplained death in children (SUDC). I work closely with many key people within NHS Board across Scotland as well as other agencies such as Police Scotland and the Procurators Fiscal service.
I am also a member and secretary for an international society called ISPID (International Society for the Study and prevention of Perinatal and Infant Death). This brings researchers, scientists, and support organisations from 27 countries together to work collaboratively. It is a pleasure to work with others dedicated to making a difference in this field. So, every day is busy and varied. Lots of meetings and networking but a lot of time chatting directly with those we serve which is great.
Lyndsay Allan, Executive Director, Scottish Cot Death Trust
How has the pandemic impacted Scottish Cot Death Trust over the past two years?
The past two years have been challenging, as they have been for every charity. Fundraising events stopped overnight and the uncertainty of when they could resume and how confident people would be to participate has been a factor in all out work since March 2020. Pivoting to home working and stopping home visits was the biggest change for the team, along with all counselling turning to online.
Our education sessions immediately went virtual and was a new learning curve for us all. We are now much more familiar with this method of support and, as an option, we will continue to offer alongside our in person training.
For the bereaved families we support, it has been the most difficult time. In some cases they couldn’t have the funeral they would have wanted for their child and they did not have the same in person support from loved ones and friends to help them through the dark days. The strength they showed was humbling. When you are used to seeing families in their own homes and with face-to-face contact, video calls are nowhere near the same, but we delivered all our services throughout, albeit in different ways.
We were fortunate to keep everything going and not stop any service. Online counselling has for some been a welcome change, as they find accessing this from their own home easier. Play therapy for children was not able to be offered online and we were reliant on schools reopening to be able to offer this to children once they were comfortable allowing external visitors in.
Families are finding it hard to cope with the isolation and changes in their lives due to the pandemic, on top of their bereavement. Our referrals went up and the complexity of need increased at a time when our funds were reduced greatly. It has been challenging but we are a brave organisation who strives to succeed through adversity, trying to show the same courage and resilience as those we support.
What does it mean for Scottish Cot Death Trust to have support from The Fuze Foundation over the next 12 months?
We are thrilled to have been chosen by The Fuze Foundation as a charity of the year. Scottish Cot Death Trust operates without government funding and is reliant on 100% charitable donations. The funds we will receive from The Fuze Foundation will help us to continue our vital work as Scotland’s only charity dedicated to the issue of sudden and unexpected death in infancy and childhood.
Where do you see collaborations with The Fuze Foundation aside from financial and fundraising help?
As much as donations are always welcome, the opportunity to raise the profile of Scottish Cot Death Trust is just as important. There might be a bereaved family out there who don’t know about us, and together we can make a difference to them. There may be professionals or community groups who want us to deliver a workshop on safe sleep training and I’m sure we can learn a lot from Fuze too as celebrants are experts in working with families at important life events and I am sure can teach us lots.
Building relationships and maintaining them helps for future planning too. I am excited to explore with The Fuze Foundation what projects we could work on together.
