Posted in Thank You's

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.

Thank you to Janice, John and everyone at Glengara Retirement Village for your generosity over the weekend.

We were kindly invited along to watch the Waratah Girls Choir perform on Saturday afternoon (and they were breathtakingly good!).  Retire Australia, Glengara Village and some of the individual residents then made some kind donations to the Heart Centre for Children as the charity of choice, which will be put towards new equipment to help us to diagnose and treat more children.

It was wonderful to meet some of the residents, hear their stories and feel what a wonderful community they have at Glengara.  Thank you again to all of you.  It was a wonderful afternoon and we hope to see you again soon!

Occasionally babies are born with atrial flutter, a type of abnormal heart rhythm. Previously, the treatment for this was an electrical shock which is painful and requires a general anaesthetic. With the support of a generous donor, we purchased a High Output Stimulator in December 2012, which allows us to fix the heart rhythm without the shock or general anaesthetic.  It also allows us to manage rhythm after heart surgery, making a big difference when the usual pacemaker is unable to deliver the required energy.  Thank you to the company that kindly donated $3,500 for this machine.  It is already making a big difference to babies and children at the Heart Centre whose hearts need a little help to pick up a normal beat.

We are lucky enough to receive cards and letters from patients and families on a regular basis, but I couldn't resist sharing this one with you.  William has been a patient of ours for a while now and wrote this lovely message to Dr David Winlaw, one of our cardiac surgeons.  It came with a self-portrait of William with Dr Winlaw which we love.  Beautiful work, William!

Thank you to Carolyn Galvin and her family and friends who raised $10,000 for the Heart Centre for Children over Christmas 2012.  Their generosity will contribute to our genetics programme, looking for answers to why some children are born with heart disease.

To see how you could support the Heart Centre, click here.

A big thank you to Virginia Burns who organised a great big raffle and raised over $2,000 for the Heart Centre for Children. 

To see how you can help the Heart Centre, click here.