Support Meetings
Our support meetings are unstructured and welcoming. We often describe them as a cuppa and a chat (that's why we've chosen those pictures above!) You can make contact prior to the meeting or you can just arrive - we prefer you to do whatever feels best for you. You will always have the opportunity to talk about your baby and your experience at a support meeting; you also have the option of simply listening. Many parents comment that they appreciate meeting other bereaved parents who have walked a similar path and just 'get it'. You are welcome to bring along photos and mementos of your baby or infant to the meetings. We have mums and dads coming along to meetings, as well as grandparents and other family members, but the majority of participants are parents. Meetings take place every month apart from January. Please feel free to come along and meet us and other bereaved parents in your community.

Due to the nature of our meetings, they are for adults only - unfortunately we do not have childcare facilities available.


Johnsonville meetings:
Support meetings are held on the first Wednesday of the month at the newly built Plunket Centre in Rotoiti St, Johnsonville (almost opposite the old Plunket house in which we held meetings for many years). Meetings start from 7:30pm and finish at 10:00pm (though you can leave earlier, we often break for another  cuppa at 9:00pm and those that need to leave earlier do so then). There are car parks in the front of the building.

Why do we have meetings in Plunket rooms? Sometimes we are asked this question and we understand it may seem like a strange place for a Sands meeting. Plunket in Wellington have been very supportive of Sands for over 20 years and we value our relationship. They provided us with a free venue for many, many years and now only charge us a small fee in their new premises. The new Plunket Rooms have a very small number of images and information about babies in their reception and the room we hold meetings in has nothing at all about babies, it's a very neutral space. It's important to know that and we apologise for not putting this information up a while ago. 


The 2019 Johnsonville meetings will be held on:

No January 2019 meeting
Wednesday 6th February
Wednesday 6th March
Wednesday 3rd April
Wednesday 1st May
Wednesday 5th June
Wednesday 3rd July
Wednesday 7th August
Wednesday 4th September
Wednesday 2nd October
Wednesday 6th November
Wednesday 4th December



Lower Hutt meetings:
Support meetings are held on the third Wednesday of the month at the Alicetown Community Centre, 38 Victoria St, Alicetown, Lower Hutt. Meetings start from 7:30pm and finish at 10:00pm (like Johnsonville, you can leave earlier if you wish).

The 2019 Lower Hutt meetings will be held on: 
 
No January 2019 meeting
Wednesday 20th February
Wednesday 20th March
Wednesday 17th April
Wednesday 15th May
Wednesday 19th June
Wednesday 17th July
Wednesday 21st August
Wednesday 18th September
Wednesday 16th October
Wednesday 20th November
Wednesday 18th December

Kapiti meetings:
We will be holding meetings every two months in Paraparaumu in 2019. The support meetings will be held at the Kapiti Impact Hub, 6 Tongariro Street, Paraparaumu on these dates:

Wednesday 13th March
Wednesday 8th May
Wednesday 10th July
Wednesday 18th September*
Wednesday 13th November
And possibly a December meeting if there is enough interest.

*This is the third Wed of the month, all others are the second Wed.