Do you have books at home that you don't want any more?  Children's books?  Novels for teenagers or adults?  Non-fiction books like cookbooks?  Please drop them off or send them in to us at the Heart Centre for Children.  They provide welcome distraction for people in our waiting room, who have the opportunity to purchase any of the books for just $2, and the proceeds go directly into new equipment and research.  Thank you in advance!

For our address and other contact details, go to Contact Us

Not everyone celebrates their 13th birthday with the Parramatta Eels and a few Channel 7 cameras, but Corey Lake is not just anyone.  He's a brave young man who has been through a lot, including a heart transplant when he was just four years old and fighting off non-Hodgkins lymphoma a few years later.  Corey is back in hospital with us at the moment but can also be found on 7 News and in the Daily Telegraph!  Read more about his story here.

Some of the Heart Centre staff are once again joining more than 85,000 people to run, walk or crawl the 14km from Sydney city to Bondi beach.  We'll be getting up early on a Sunday to sweat it out with our peers as a fundraiser for the Heart Centre for Children, working towards our goal of purchasing a new cardiac ultrasound (echo) machine which cost almost $400,000.  We have raised just over $95,000 as of this week, so we're well on our way but we need your help.  Please sponsor us for the City2Surf here: https://city2surf2013.everydayhero.com/au/the-pacemakers.  Alternatively, you can click here to find out how else you can help.

The story of one of our little patients, Monty, features in the NSW Helicopter Reform Plan.  It's a touching tale because Monty went into cardiac shock at just seven days old and had to be rushed to The Children's Hospital at Westmead from Wyong.  That's when we first met Monty and fell in love with the little guy, who pulled through just fine.  To read Monty's story go to Page 20 of the Helicopter Reform Plan.

A huge THANK YOU to Rachael, Belinda and Erin who organised the fabulous Zipper Tickers gala dinner in Newcastle this weekend.  The venue was stunning, speeches touching and guests generous.  It was a huge success in raising much-needed funds for an echo machine for the Heart Centre for Children, and a credit to the wonderful organisers.  There are a few photos available via The Herald and should be more to come.

Photo (right): Rachael Coyte telling her story.  Photo taken by Funky Kidz Photography.

Nichole and Glen, parents of little Mosiah who sadly passed away in early 2009, recently set themselves a fundraising goal of $3,000 for the Heart Centre for Children.  They geared up for the Suncorp Gold Coast 5.7km run on the 6th of July and put the word out there about their aim.  I was delighted to come back from leave this week to see that they absolutely smashed their target, and have raised a grand total of $3,887!  Congratulations guys, you've done an amazing job and I can't wait to hear about how your first fun run went!

For more information or to send in a last-minute donation, click here.