We are pleased to announce that from today, Red Nose and peer support organisation Sands Australia will be merging operations, coming together under one roof.
This means that from today, Sands will become part of Red Nose.
This exciting next step in our journey ensures that – together – we will be able to help even more families than ever before, and that all families can receive the care and support they need.
The new organisation will continue to be called Red Nose, but peer-to-peer support services will be delivered under the Sands banner.
Red Nose and Sands have for some time been exploring the idea of joining forces to create a single organisation to deliver high quality bereavement care and work towards preventing all sudden and unexpected deaths during pregnancy, infancy and early childhood.
Both Sands and Red Nose were founded by bereaved parents who wanted to make sure families received support following the death of a baby.
We share a long history, similar values, and a shared vision for the future – to provide parents with the best possible bereavement support services, and research and education to prevent babies and children from dying suddenly and unexpectedly.
The Sands model of care is grounded in peer support, which will complement our professional counselling services. Coming together as a single organisation will also simplify the process of seeking support and ensure families receive the right help on their grief journey.
As a joint organisation, we will have an even greater capacity to provide high quality bereavement support services and to invest more of our community funding into programs to support Australian families.
We expect that our day-to-day operations will remain largely unchanged. Sands staff and volunteers will continue doing their important work. We will continue to run our local offices and support groups focused on the local community.
There will be a considered process to bring our existing services and teams together that will take place over the next twelve months. Our supporters will have the opportunity to be involved in this process.
After the merger, Red Nose will be led by co-CEOs – Keren Ludski, who has been CEO of Red Nose since 2018, and Jackie Mead the outgoing Sands CEO. Both women are successful executives with extensive backgrounds in business, philanthropy, and not-for-profit management.
Keren and Jackie are passionate about saving little lives and ensuring every grieving family receives the support they need. They also bring to their roles their own lived experiences of losing a treasured baby, giving them a deep empathy and insight into the communities with whom Red Nose works, and an understanding of why our work is so important.
We are excited about the next chapter for Red Nose and are sincerely grateful for your continued support of bereaved families across Australia.
Red Nose was assisted by Pinsent Masons acting on a pro bono basis, who advised on all aspects of the merger including on structure, merger documentation, and employment matters.
Partner Ewan Robertson said he and his team were delighted to assist Red Nose with the important strategic project.
“This is a significant step forward for both organisations, that will see an increase in services to the Australian community. We look forward to following the great things that will be achieved over the coming months and years.”
For more information please contact us on 1300 998 698.