Hi, dont know if anyone can help here or point me in the right direction but im looking for a funder to help us fund a much needed support group for families of babies born sleeping or shortly after birth run by families that understand from experience. There is nothing like this in the south yorkshire area that i can find so set up one of my own with the support of hospitals and the nct, at the moment i am funding it myself but am finding it difficult, we can offer advertising to anyone that could help us as we get a lot of newspaper coverage in the local area and will put a company logo on out posters to advertise too, we just need a little help to keep this much needed group running
Thanks for reading this and any suggestions would be greatly appreciated xxxx
:help:
:)

As a grandparent myself (gosh this makes me sound old!) I understand how precious babies and children are (irrespective of their age!); I am going to ask a very naive question.

I've never come across this condition before;what are the health implications of a baby being born asleep?

Sorry its my way of saying my baby died before he was born xxxxx i call it bor asleep cos its just a nicer way of saying it, thats why ive set up the group cos as a grandparent you will understand how awful it is to lose a child its life changing xxx

I know a few people who have been through this and I think this sort of group is much needed. Sands is a great charity for this, could you get some support from them? Or get the families you support to help with fundraising days etc.

I can only imaginw that losing a baby is the worst thing that can ever happen and a good support network is needed to be able to get through it.

Good on you and I hope you get that support.

Hi, sands are really good but have closed there group in sheffield down and the nearest is leeds, they dont allow anyone to have sands status until they are 2years post loss, its nalso more of a councilling thing, we aim to provide peer support not councillng as from personal experience i find this easier and its a more relaxin environment. thank you for your support and your kind words, its so greatly appreciated xxxxx

Try SYFAB they are great with funding support advice

http://www.syfab.org.uk/

I think what you touched on in your original post is company sponsorship. Despite the cause though, it will still be for you to decide what you need and how you are going to achieve it then you can work out a marketing strategy to get the income in that you need e.g. sposnoship is one example you mention, which involves contacting businesses.

However before you can do that you need to get your cause into a formal group of some kind, and perhaps a social enterprise status may better attract funding and public or commercial investment or donations.

I would be able to put you up a quick wordpress website with a couple of pages, and a blog page where you can update with stuff. It's nothing fantastic, but it will be reasonable and somewhere peole can go to 'read more'. All you would need to provide me is the domain name which costs £7.03p for a .co.uk from 123-Reg (once you know what your group's name will be).

You could then charge people to put banner ads on so you get a bit of money in though it's not a lot and you cant run a group off that amount. But maybe a links page and get £2 a link donated? The people who will join your group will have jobs and they could ask their employer to sponsor a link - i.e. their web address - on the page.]

Every little helps so think of lots of smaller ways to attract money to cover costs (and you need to work out and say what thoses costs are) and that way it may seem more achievable than planting one big goal which may seem daunting and feel unachievable.

Hi, we are having a proper website made by my friend which should be up and running within a fortnight. we also have a proper business bank account registered as a non profit organization hope this helps xxxxxx

yes, it will help you a lot to have those in place. Good luck with it!

Thank you!!!! xxxx

What would the money be spent on?

It would pay for the room for the group. Its a 2hour session every fortnight, its not a lot but would keep us running, if you would like anymore information please feel free to email me. xxxxx :)

Not sure if this helps but there are lots of pubs which have function rooms which are not often used during the week. I'm sure one of them would let you have the use of a room; you'll all end up buying drinks in the bar so they will see some benefit too; just a thought!

We have an amazing room, its not very expensive and in a great location so people can get to it, tbh not sure grieving parents are gunna want to sit in a pub, may not be the right atmosphere. but thank you for your suggestion xxx

Hi,

It sounds like the amount of funding you are looking for is quite small. I would suggest contacting South Yorkshire Community Foundation (they are on the web) to see what you would be eligible to apply for.
There are other Sheffield only based funders such as the J G Graves Trust (again on the web) who may be interested in this sort of proposal.
Being successful in applying for funding is never easy and you will get rejections but keep going and I am sure you will be successful.

P.S the SYFAB idea ia a good one. They will help!

Good luck with it all xx

Hi, Thank you. yeah we dont need a lot, Thank you so much for the websites, ill keep trying xxx

Apart from booking a room what other expenses are there? I can't quite see why you need a business account. If people donate money to you what are you going to spend it on if you're only going to have meetings?

As said above maybe think about this differently. Approach places that have empty rooms and see if you could get it for free. If you are dead-set on this place you've found then negotiate with them and find a backer to pay the room fees every month.

I think what you are doing is great but don't think you need the stress of managing a business bank account just yet.

Sorry, i didnt explain myself properly, we need to be able to prove to the charity commission where our expense go, we also aim to fund memorial gardens for Families of babies born asleep, if we had the room paid which is £13.50 ph, we can concentrate on helping with the memorial gardens, we also need the account to prove to people where there money is going, i dont want to ask people for money and not let them see where its going, we have a treasurer who is a trained accountant, we want to go about this properly but cant apply for any funding from grants until we have nearly a years bank statements. I have looked into this thoroughly, and for the 1st few months while we get all our invoices and statements together we could really do with a sponsor. We have a lot of help and support from the bereavement midwives but this is a very important group but people dont realise how important until it happens, its not a decision we have taken lightly and have had lots of advice and this seems the best route to get us started, oohh also, its a society bank account so not as hard as a actual bank account its specific for this kind of purpose.
Hope this helps

Stress of managaing a business bank account? What stress is that? You need to mvoe to the A&L if your business banking is stressful!!

I would agree you need a formal business account for transparency if nothing else.

I just dont think its very fair to ask people for money and then not be able to show them where its going, as i said you need this up and running for a good few months before you can even apply for a grant and that applys to all funding places xxxx

Sorry, i didnt explain myself properly, we need to be able to prove to the charity commission where our expense go, we also aim to fund memorial gardens for Families of babies born asleep, if we had the room paid which is £13.50 ph, we can concentrate on helping with the memorial gardens, we also need the account to prove to people where there money is going, i dont want to ask people for money and not let them see where its going, we have a treasurer who is a trained accountant, we want to go about this properly but cant apply for any funding from grants until we have nearly a years bank statements. I have looked into this thoroughly, and for the 1st few months while we get all our invoices and statements together we could really do with a sponsor. We have a lot of help and support from the bereavement midwives but this is a very important group but people dont realise how important until it happens, its not a decision we have taken lightly and have had lots of advice and this seems the best route to get us started, oohh also, its a society bank account so not as hard as a actual bank account its specific for this kind of purpose.
Hope this helps

Got you - you would get money coming in from donations / sponsors, and the outgoings would be room hire and memorial gardens. Sorry yes you would need a business bank account.

I think the best way to raise money is to hold a sale in a church hall every few months. Go around local businesses and ask for donations. Also accept donations from the public. If you make it a regular event then this could prove a regular source of income. The problem with funding is that it could stop at anytime. The last thing you want is to get everything set up then stop it because of lack of funding. Good luck with it all.

Thank you, it wouldnt matter too much if it was only for a period of 3 months just so we can do some fundraising events, to get oourselves properly on our feet, we are just getting our website up and running then we will be approaching businesses, hopefully will be holding a christmas ball in december to raise funds too

Are you a registered charity or working towards this? Do you have a constitution? Do you have trustees?

These things allow access to more potential funders.

yes we do have a constitution, we do have trustees but we arent a charity yet, we have to raise 5000 before we can register as a charity. Its a big aim but with hard work we will hopefully be able to do it

mrsd; like many organisations you will find people who have suffered a similar loss to you from all walks of life...including professionals such as bankers, lawyers, businessmen etc. Have you discussed with your group about getting support from them...the old adage a problem shared might really be a benefit to your cause.

Yes at the mo, they are mums and dont work at the mo, some are 133weeks post loss and others are 2years and have other children, we have decided to approach large businesses and tell them what we are doing and ask for a little help, even if we get a no its still got the word out about our group, so its sort of a win win situation, we have a brilliant bunch of people from all differet walks of life, hopefully the letters will be sent of tomorrow xxx

yes we do have a constitution, we do have trustees but we arent a charity yet, we have to raise 5000 before we can register as a charity. Its a big aim but with hard work we will hopefully be able to do it

Why do you need to raise money to be a charity?

You have to have made 5000 to be registered as a charity until then you have to be a non profit organization not sure why seems silly to me x

Why do you want charity status?

I dont at the minute, its not neccessary but when we expend and have groups running elsewhere we may need it