Registered with the Charity Commission - NIC101287 Registered with HMRC - XR78474
Aim - To provide emotional and practical support to families who have children with either congenital or acquired heart conditions
Heartbeat NI is a voluntary organisation whose main aim is to provide support to families who have children with congenital or acquired heart disease. We believe we lived up to our promise in 2016 once again due to the hard work of our volunteers and network of people who continued to inform us of families who were either suffering emotional or financial difficulties and in many instances both.
Twelve families were directed to us for financial aid when travelling to mainland Britain for surgical procedures, plus one family was put into contact with us when one of their members was being treated in the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast.
We continue to have a very close association with Bravehearts NI. We have worked with them on several projects and are delighted that they have went from strength to strength. We believe that young adults need an active support group and feel that Bravehearts NI is ideally placed to do this.
Heartbeat NI funded a pulse oximetry pilot study in Daisy Hill Hospital which was officially launched in December 2015 and we are delighted that after the pilot study was complete the hospital continued with pulse oximetry testing for all newborns. The importance of this study was shown in a presentation to the Ulster Paediatric Society. It is hoped that this testing will be rolled out throughout maternity units in Northern Ireland and we will continue working to reach this goal.
In 2015 we provided a defibrillator to a school who has a pupil with a heart condition and in 2016 we provided a further seven after having requests from schools and youth groups. It was decided to continue this project but not at the detriment of other projects which would have an immediate effect on families.
Our thanks go to the many supporters who raised funds for us throughout the year. Without their financial assistance we, as a charity, would not be in a position to completely carry out our aims.
Chairman Heartbeat NI