Category Archives: News

Thanks to our recent fundraisers

imagingWell done to Emily Jardine who ran in the 2013 Dubai 10K back in January of this year. Emily and her supporters raised nearly £500 for the Association – amazing!

 

 

167x18756ed50cb-b275-4d2e-b21b-9d1b80b70313Good luck to David Barden who is cycling over 2,000 miles through Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan to Samarkand in Uzbekistan this spring. His fundraising page has already passed the £300 mark and is still climbing. Check out his fundraising page on Virgin Money Giving and show your support for him and our Association.

Thanks again to all our fundraisers and supporters who keep our Association going and able to help children with congenital heart disorders and their families. Keep up the good work.

Making Injections Less Painful

Buzzy_2010_smThe Cardiology Team at Alder Hey are very excited by the arrival of a few bugs in clinic. No, don’t worry, not those kind of bugs. These are buzzing plastic lady-bugs!! These friendly little creatures are designed to help take the pain out of needles. They work by using natural pain relief in the
form of vibration to confuse your nerves and distraction to take your focus away from the needle. Vibration and distraction together help dull or eliminate sharp pain like needles.

Other departments in Alder Hey had tried them out and given how well they were received by patients, The Children’s Heart Association offered to fund three for the cardiology team. So if you are in clinic or on the ward and need a blood test, cannula, finger prick or injection and would like to give Buzzy a try, be sure to ask a member of staff. Be sure to let us know what you think of it.

jessica sellars 001Jessica Sellars (aged 14) was kind enough to let us take a photograph of her trying Buzzy. She had to have two injections, the first one was a while ago before we got our Ladybugs. When she had her second injection she tried “Buzzy” and said “it felt really cold on her arm but the second injection didn’t hurt as much as the first one”.

If you would like to watch some videos of Buzzy being demonstrated, learn more about it or would like to buy your own, visit the website at www.buzzy4shots.com.

Fashion Show

On Friday 1st March we hosted a fashion show in Liverpool at the Days Inn hotel.  After a lot of packing, shifting and unpacking (thanks Val & Val’s dad) we were ready to begin.  There were 28 people who turned up to see the show.  During the evening we had a disco, Irish bingo and raffles too.  Afterwards, we had fish and chips with a glass of wine for the adults and soft drinks for the kids.

We’d like to say a big thank you to our models Kali and Ella who both did a grand job and we’re very grateful to you both for doing this. You both looked great in your outfits and the clothes sold as soon as you took each outfit off which was great.

I know all who came enjoyed the bargain hunting and some fantastic bargains were there to be had.  Thanks to all who came and showed your support it’s very much appreciated and we made a profit of £453.

Casino Night

We didn’t have a great turn-out on the night however everyone that came really enjoyed themselves.   It was great to see some new faces with our new members joining in and meeting others.  It was fun to see one of our volunteers, Pearl, who does not normally gamble really enter into the spirit.  She decided there would be no stopping her so she claimed the whole of the bottom of the table and set in to stay the night!  There were some risk takers with one member winning the most amount of chips on the night deciding to bet it all on number four.  On the very last spin it came up, winning them a bottle of Champagne.

Hope to see you all at our Dinner Dance in May.

Frankie and Benny’s – Valentine’s day

On the 14th February lots of our members met up at Frankie and Benny’s in Liverpool for tea.  The afternoon did not quite go to plan as we received a call from the restaurant about 2 hours before to say the booking had to be cancelled!  It all managed to be sorted out and our 34 parents and children sat down to a nice meal and great chat together.

CHF CLN/Specialist Nurse Survey

The CHF are compiling a report about good practice and also what families find useful from their Cardiac Liaison Nurses to ensure everyone can benefit from these forms of support in future.

If you could spare some time to assist by submitting your experiences then please follow this link to their online survey.

2013 CLN Survey: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dHVBTDhzX1RpdW5KX2FaVmZaWWdyZFE6MQ.

If you have any further questions, please contact the CHF:

Web: www.chfed.org.uk
Facebook:www.facebook.com/chfed
Twitter:@chfed

Panto

On Friday 14th December we went to the Pantomime courtesy of Barclays.  It was Cinderella at the Empire theatre.  What a fantastic show it was, the families really loved it and the kids thoroughly enjoyed it.  The setting was truly magical and we had lots of fun joining in. I was close to tears myself when they brought that beautiful carriage on stage (I want one!).

My nephews Matt and Will were there and they were screaming and shouting and
nearly off their chairs wanting to be heard, the laughter and their faces was a
picture in itself.  We had a little girl who kept asking why she couldn’t go on stage,  maybe in a few years she will be on stage entertaining us.

Thank you Lee and all at Barclays.

Alder Hey Christmas Party

christmas-party-2012On Sunday 9th December we had our annual Christmas Party at Alder Hey’s 01 clinic.  This year we had a Magician in to entertain the children. Those that
watched him said he was magic, they enjoyed him and even participated in some of the magic.  The magician also made balloon shapes for children too.  Some of the children played in the soft play area in the clinic.

We had new families come along to join in the fun, some of them joined the Association on the day – so we hope you enjoyed your first Christmas party with us.

After the Magician we had our party food and then we had a visit from Santa. Santa had a busy time and had all the children wanting a present from him, it was just as well he brought a full sack of goodies to make sure each child received a present. We had babies from just a few weeks old to teenagers.

Thank you Dad.  You know what you did and you were a big hit!  Same again next year????

View Slideshow One, Slideshow Two.

We are a charity based in the North West of England in the UK and provide support to families with children with congenital or acquired heart disorders at all stages of their condition, helping them deal with the problems and challenges it brings.
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