CHUF (Children's Heart Unit Fund)

A company with Corporate Social Responsibility at it’s heart has made a fantastic donation to kick start 2021!

Throughout the pandemic, CHUF has worked tirelessly to respond to additional requests from the hospitals that support our Heart Heroes, who have been facing increased pressure due to greater need and tighter government restrictions. One such urgent request was for a new echocardiogram machine and multiple probes, for dedicated use at Sunderland Royal Hospital’s outpatient heart clinics. Given the unprecedented need, CHUF gladly agreed to pay for this large vital piece of equipment at a cost of £54,000. Amazingly, some corporate friends stepped in to lend a hand and share the financial burden…

Each year employees at Primula Ltd and Kavli UK Limited nominate charities they feel make a positive difference to their local communities, for a share of donations, courtesy of the Kavli Trust. CHUF was fortunate enough to receive a large proportion of staff votes and in turn, were given a hugely generous £35,000.

This money will help towards the cost of this incredible piece of medical equipment; helping vulnerable Heart Heroes to be scanned and treated closer to home, whilst also relieving some of the workload at the NICU at Freeman Hospital, Newcastle.

“When I went to to the socially distanced cheque presentation at Primula, we had no idea how much the donation would be for and never in a million years thought it would be such an incredible amount!” – Alicia (Corporate and Events Fundraising Manager)

A massive thank you to everyone at Primula who voted for CHUF to recieve a donation from the Kavli Charitable Trust!

North East bakeries and patisseries pledge to ‘Wear their Hearts on their Sleeves’ by fundraising for CHUF during National Heart Month this February.

National Heart Month is a chance for CHUF to highlight the prevalence of congenital and acquired heart conditions affecting babies and children across the UK as well as shining a light on what the charity does to support Heart families. With circumstances so different this year to last, CHUF have some tasty plans to get everyone involved with Heart Month this year….

In addition to #WearRedForCHUF day (Friday 26^th February), CHUF is launching the #WearYourHeartOnYourSleeve campaign on February 1^st. It’s a chance for businesses to publicly acknowledge their commitment to Heart Heroes throughout the month and an opportunity to show everyone their creative side too.

“As well as raising awareness of the impact of heart conditions and our work with Heart families at CHUF, we wanted to get people supporting local businesses that are still able to operate during the lockdown. We hoped that local businesses might get on board to support CHUF by creating a special offer for Heart Month for which, a small portion of profits is donated to the charity. We’ve been overwhelmed by the truly sweet response!” Alicia Clovis-Mothalib, Corporate & Events Fundraising Manager

The sweet initiative has been taken to heart by Gateshead’s Sweet and Fair , Ouseburn’s Dreamworld Cakes and Jesmond’s Cake Stories. These businesses have adapted to allow customers to continue to buy their favourite produce by providing either Covid-secure collection for takeaway or by offering a delivery service. Dreamworld Cakes have created a ‘CHUF special’ rhubarb and custard choux pastry for customers to enjoy, with all the proceeds being donated to CHUF; Sweet and Fair will be donating 10% of all their February profits, as well as 50p from each letterbox slab ordered. Cake stories will be introducing their amazing new ‘Whole Lotta Love’ letterbox treats which can be posted to loved ones nationwide and will be giving £1 to CHUF for every box ordered.

With Valentine’s Day looming, what better way to treat a loved one (or show a little self-care) than by ordering a sweet treat, safe in the knowledge that you’re supporting Heart Heroes and small businesses at the same time?!

“As soon as we were approached, we knew we had to get involved. CHUF do an amazing job.” – Bernadett Szucs, Dreamworld Cakes

Everyone can get behind Heart Month this February!

CHUF will be encouraging people to show their support for Heart Heroes in National Heart Month either by purchasing a limited-edition t-shirt from the CHUF e-bay shop, by getting friends and colleagues involved in wearing red on 26^th February and donating a suggested £1 through their facebook page @CHUFofficial, and by buying goods from participating local businesses so that their money does twice the good- helping small businesses as well benefitting CHUF.

All money raised during Heart Month will help CHUF fund work supporting babies and children treated at the Children’s Heart Unit, Freeman and those living with heart conditions all over the UK.

Any other businesses wanting to get involved with CHUF during heart month and beyond can email: events@chuf.org.uk

It has been an exciting and inspirational year for CHUF; we’ve supported life-changing projects and donated record amounts to support the care of babies and children with heart conditions (Heart Heroes) across the North East and Cumbria. We are incredibly proud of the impact we have made through our charitable projects and have ambitious plans to continue to deliver on our vision to support pioneering services that positively impact heart families, inspire hope and enable Heart Heroes to reach their full potential.  Having had the privilege of working at CHUF for three years I was thrilled to take up the role of Director of Fundraising and Operations in January 2020 and wanted to take the opportunity to share with our supporters how grateful we are for your continued support. Despite the challenges 2020 has thrown our way, we continue our work supporting the Children’s Heart Unit at the Freeman Hospital and the district hospitals across the North, working with the North East and North Cumbria Congenital Heart Disease Network to ensure that our giving has the most impact on patient care.

In the past year we have invested in new technologies and research to improve the future for Heart Heroes, in salaries and professional development of NHS staff to ensure that our practitioners are trained to the highest standards and also in the holistic care of our Heart families; expanding the support we give to Heart Heroes in hospital and also in their communities. At the centre of all that we do is the Heart Hero and having a positive impact on their lives. The work that we are able to do is thanks to you, our amazing supporters.

By supporting CHUF you are investing in incredible care for generations to come.

I hope that you enjoy reading our impact report which is now available to download from www.chuf.org.uk and that it conveys just how important your support is to our charity and to each and every Heart Hero and their family. Without your help we simply could not continue to make such a difference. Thank you for enabling life-changing care. - Charlotte Campbell, Director of Operations and Fundraising