Another win for Miscarriage Matters at Third Sector Awards
After winning three top prizes at the Charity Awards and CIPR Excellence Awards, Miscarriage Matters has been successful again. We were thrilled to win the Big Impact category at the Third Sector Awards on Friday 30 September, recognising the scale and influence of our campaign which is pushing for real policy change to transform care and end the myth of miscarriage being ‘just one of those things’.
Lizzie D'Angelo, Tommy's Marketing Director said:
Miscarriage is devastating. Right now, around 1 in 4 pregnancies end in miscarriage, but we make families go through this pain 3 times in a row before they qualify for support or care. We think this is unacceptable, and our community agreed. Over 250,000 people signed our petition to hold the government to account. These awards are testament to the incredible impact we have achieved together by putting miscarriage on the map for the first time.
The Third Sector Awards celebrate the work of charities of all sizes and acknowledge the impact they have on society. With categories split across Excellence, Talent and Partnership awards, they recognise the amazing work of charities, community groups and individuals across the country. Overall, Tommy’s was shortlisted in 5 categories for the Excellence Awards, including : Best Charity Film for #WeSeeAMum launched in March and Digital Innovation of the Year for our My Prem Baby app, which we redeveloped and re-released last year. We were also shortlisted in the Fundraising Campaign category for the Tommy’s Yee-Ha! Sensathon, a special fundraising event with our partners at WOW World Group which involves sponsored challenges in Baby Sensory and Toddler Sense classes throughout the UK. Since 2014, the Sensathon has raised an incredible £1.4 million for Tommy’s.
As well as winning the Big Impact award, we were incredibly proud to be Highly Commended in the Breakthrough of the Year category for our Pregnancy and Parenting at Work programme.
About Pregnancy and Parenting at Work
The programme provides a package of training and guidance to help managers better support their employees through pregnancy, complications, premature birth and baby loss. After a survey in 2021 revealed that more than 80% of parents felt they needed to put on a brave face in the workplace, and almost half of people who had lost a baby said nobody at work acknowledged it, it was clear that more needed to be done. One year on, and with Pregnancy and Parenting at Work rolled out in a number of cross-sector organisations including Santander and Bupa UK, we are now driving national conversations, equipping thousands of managers to have vital conversations about baby loss, and transforming the support parents across the country receive, whatever their journey.
Jacqui Clinton, Tommy’s Fundraising Director said:
Baby loss devastates parents; 20% of men and women who undergo a miscarriage still experience symptoms of PTSD over 9 months later. Yet their loss is rarely acknowledged, and even less so at work. The impact in the workplace is huge, yet massively misunderstood and underrepresented in available support. Our research revealed the greatest barrier to employees receiving support was a total lack of guidance for line managers, especially on how to navigate conversations around pregnancy or loss.
Together with parents, experts and a group of leading organisations across sectors, we came together to launch Pregnancy and Parenting at Work which provides all the guidance and training needed to support employees in their pregnancy journeys, including through miscarriage, stillbirth and premature birth.
We are very proud that this breakthrough has been recognised and awarded Highly Commended, and thankful to our community who have supported us as well as our growing membership who are making a difference every day to support parents at work.
See the full list of winners and commended entries on the Third Sector Awards website.