Children's Heart Unit Fund

DO YOU FANCY A CHALLENGE?

On Sunday 8th August 2010 we will be holding an abseil off the Freeman Hospital. It will cost £25 per person to enter, this will help us to cover the costs of the abseil only, so naturally we would like to turn this into a fundraiser so you would be expeceted to collect sponsorship.  The abseil was once an annual event on CHUF’s fundraising calendar so help us make this one a great success so we can bring it back as a permanent fixture again. If you are interested and would like more information, or to register and to obtain sponsorship forms, please contact Lorraine at the CHUF office on 0191 213 1365 or email her at info@chuf.org.uk 

HELP US SHAPE THE FUTURE OF CHILDREN’S HEART SERVICES IN YOUR AREA.

As you may be aware, a review of children’s heart surgery services in England is currently taking place to ensure children and young people receive the very best care possible. A likely outcome of the review is fewer surgical centres with larger teams of experts.

This is your personal invitation on behalf of the NHS North East Specialised Commissioning Group to find out more about the review and to have your say on how surgical and cardiac services should be organised in the future. You can do this by attending an event which will give you an opportunity to influence decisions around how services may be organised. You will also be able to share experiences and tell us what’s important to you.

This will take place at the Magpie Suite at St James’ Park, Newcastle on Thursday 1st July 2010 at 6pm (on arrival please report to the Milburn Reception on the ground floor). The event is planned to finish at 9pm and there will be light refreshments on arrival. If you plan to attend you will need to register – visit www.eventsforce.net/specialisedcommissioningevents for further information on how to register. If you have any questions you can email specialisedcommissioning@graylinglive.com or call 0845 363 1478 (open Monday – Friday, 9am – 5.30pm).

I do hope you take this opportunity to help us shape the future of children’s heart services in your area.

COAST TO COAST EVENT & SUMMER BALL

On the 11th January 2009 Ivan and Nadine Hollingsworth were blessed by the birth of thier beautiful son Sebastian. Their dream quickly turned into a nightmare as 15 hours after his birth Seb was diagnosed with a congenital heart condition called Tetralogy of Fallot which if left untreated would mean he might not see his 2nd birthday. Seb started to become ill earlier than expected and at just 4 months old the decision was taken by the surgical team at the Freeman Hospital to perform emergency surgery. After 6 hours in theatre, a rollercoaster week in Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) and 4 weeks on Ward 23 they finally got to take their boy home. Unfortunately Seb looks like he will require further surgery in the future, at the moment he is doing fantastically well. The events of this year have spurred them into fund raising mode. As like so many other families that have passed through the doors of the Freeman Hospital, they want to show their gratitude in any small way that they can; let’s face it, nothing they do can say THANK YOU enough for saving their son’s life! Their target is to raise £120k over the next couple of years, so they’ve started to organise some events to get them on route to this total. More information on all of their plans can be seen at www.seb4chuf.org.uk

AN EXCITING YEAR AHEAD!

2009 is an exciting year for us for many reasons, one of them being that the Lord Mayor of Newcastle upon Tyne Michael Cookson and his Lady Mayoress Dorrie Cookson have chosen to support the Children’s Heart Unit Fund as their local charity during their term of office. During the next year various fundraising events will take place and we are pleased to say that the Mayor and Mayoress will be appearing at many CHUF events. This is a great honour for the charity to be chosen from a huge array of many other worthwhile local charities and we our very grateful for this opportunity of working closely with them.

The Lady Mayoress explains “We are delighted to support CHUF in our year in office 2009 -2010″.

We have long been aware of the level of dedication among your supporters in working alongside the Children’s Heart Unit staff to give support to families at a time of great stress in their lives. This has resulted in equipment being provided for the unit and practical and emotional help to the patients and families. We wish you all thanks from the people of Newcastle who we know appreciate your continued hard work”.