The Still Parents project and exhibition, which was developed by the University of Manchester’s Whitworth Art Gallery, in partnership with Manchester Sands, has been shortlisted for a prestigious award.

We are incredibly delighted to announce that the project and exhibition, which has already won four major awards, is being shortlisted in the Promoting Health and Well-Being category at the Manchester Culture Awards which has been organised by Manchester City Council.

Launched as a project in 2019, Still Parents started up as a programme to support all parents who have sadly experienced baby loss during pregnancy or during/just after birth. With the guidance of professional artists, the monthly workshop set out to encourage bereaved parents to use art and creativity to express their feelings of pregnancy and baby loss. Together, as a community, they came together to support one another.

We use the art of making to help people make sense of their experiences, to help them on their journeys, and to enable them to share their experiences through art. When we launched the project in 2019, within 24 hours of announcing it, we were oversubscribed. There was obviously a real need for something like this. Working in an art gallery, you realise how special these places are – they are good for your well-being, and I wanted to share this with others as it really helped me. 

Lucy Turner, Producer at the Whitworth and bereaved parent, who came up with the Still Parents idea

Following on from the project’s amazing success, the Still Parents exhibition launched in September 2021. It was the first of its kind and opened at the Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester. It will remain there until Sunday 4 December, and we really recommend that everyone goes to see the honest, powerful, and beautiful portrayal of baby loss which has been told by those who have experienced it first-hand.

The Co-Chairs of Manchester Sands, Jo Richler and Paul Kleiman, will be proudly representing Sands at the awards dinner on Thursday 24 December. They will be accompanied by Lucy Turner and Imogen Holmes-Roe, both bereaved parents who brought the vision of Still Parents to life.

Being involved in Still Parents from the moment Lucy Turner contacted us has been an incredible experience for us but also, more importantly, for the many individuals, couples and families who have taken part in the project or who have visited the exhibition. We know, from talking to visitors and from reading the hundreds of comments and stories that people have written, that the impact of Still Parents has had is truly profound. It has genuinely helped to break the silence that surrounds baby loss.

Paul Kleiman, Co-Chair of Manchester Sands

The Whitworth, part of the University of Manchester, is the city’s ‘gallery in a park’. Together with local partners, artists and communities, the gallery uses art for positive social change, aiming to transform the way that art is experienced, by using art as a tool to open conversation, generate empathy and actively address what matters most in people’s lives here and now.

Still Parents is such a fantastic project. It has allowed bereaved families to express feelings around their loss through art. The grieving process is never easy, but what so often helps is having a community of people who can understand and support you and to have this alongside such a moving, creative project is a wonderful combination.

Jen Coates, Head of Bereavement Support services at Sands

Sands is here to support anyone affected by pregnancy loss or the death of a baby. The charity aims to support bereaved parents and save babies’ lives. We offer support in multiple ways. 

The Still Parents exhibition was kindly supported by Friends of the Whitworth.