The Children’s Heart Surgery Fund (CHSF) is calling on local people to support its ‘Fundraising Friday’ (31 August) to help to raise much needed funds to help the charity to fight the decision to end children’s heart surgery at the Leeds General Infirmary.
Supported by teams at ASDA and the Yorkshire Mafia, this ‘collective day of action’ across Yorkshire and the Humber has been called as the charity looks to secure money to fund a judicial review to fight the recent decision which is threatening to end heart surgery at Leeds as part of its ‘Fighting Fund’ campaign, which was launched at the beginning of August.
Individuals and businesses are being urged to join in and organise their own events – from cake bakes to dress down days and should contact CHSF directly to find out how they can register to take part. A number of fundraising ideas can be found on www.chsf.org.uk People with prearranged activities and events have also been encouraged to donate any proceeds to the Fighting Fund.
Sharon Cheng, CHSF Director said:
We are delighted ASDA’s Leeds Contact Centre and the Yorkshire Mafia has agreed to support our initiative. We hope that more people and businesses will sign up and arrange their own events. We’re fully committed to saving children’s heart surgery in Leeds and we believe the decision to end it is flawed.
Since we launched the Fighting Fund we have attracted a lot of support and local people have asked how they can help so Fundraising Friday provides a great opportunity for them to get involved and play a big part in helping to keep Leeds open.
There has been widespread public outcry since the decision was made on 4 July with almost 3,000 people attending a peaceful demonstration held on 23 July in Leeds. Politicians from all parties have joined forces to voice their outrage and have written to the Andrew Lansley Health Secretary. The Health Overview and Scrutiny Panel, the group that represents councils from across the region has also stated its intent to refer the decision to the Health Secretary.
Last year more than 600,000 people from across Yorkshire, the Humber and Lincolnshire signed a petition supporting the children’s heart unit at the LGI, which provides life-saving surgery to hundreds of children in Yorkshire and the Humber and beyond, annually. The campaign has continued to receive cross party political support from MPs who have already begun leading the debate in the House of Commons.
