by Val | Feb 23, 2014 | News
For many of us Christmas time is always a wonderful time of year. We may be busy but most of us look forward to it. December 2013 was no exception and how extra special CHA made it for their members.
We made pizza with the elves and our creations for our pizzas were amazing – we have some very talented children. As well as pizza there was a fabulous three course meal to enjoy. As all the children had been so good over the year they even had a special visit from Santa who came and gave them all an early Christmas present. It was a busy afternoon, enjoyed by all and we’re already looking forward to this year’s event! A special thank you to Joanne and her team at Hilton Manchester Airport who always look after us so well.
by Matthew | Feb 23, 2014 | News
Our congratulations to Lily Clough who successfully climbed the Uhuru peak on Mt. Kilimanjaro. As well as the shear challenge, Lily was raising funds for the Children’s Heart Association.
Here are some photos from her adventure:
by Val | Feb 1, 2014 | News
January saw the start of our events for 2014 and to celebrate 40 years as a registered charity we aim to do 40 events throughout the year.
We began with ice skating at Deeside Leisure centre. We had a good turn out and the families had so much fun. There was music to skate too and we had mixed abilities
so all could join in. Thank you to the older children who helped the younger ones.
This was fun for all the family and mum’s and dad’s joined in too – some mum’s and dad’s admitted it was like recapturing their youth.
Happy days.
by Anne | Feb 1, 2014 | News
Saturday 25th January 2014
We had a fun afternoon at Boomerang Sensory play centre in Bury yesterday (Sat 25th Jan).
They have a soft play room with a great slide – Thomas’s mum’s toe is still recovering – and I hear Alfie’s dad had something to do with it too. There is a quiet sensory room where Freddie enjoyed launching himself into the ball pool with clear balls that changed colour with the light below. But my favourite room was the interactive room with noisy touch games on the wall and an interactive mat where you could walk on the piano keys, or chase frogs or jump on the drum kit. The interactive game changed every couple of minutes so no-one got bored. Harry and George had fun there too.
Great to catch up with Dylan’s mum and dad over a cuppa. We’ll definitely do it again sometime.
Check out their website at www.boomerangcentre.co.uk.
by Matthew | Jan 19, 2014 | News
Good luck to Matthew Cripps who’s taking part in a cycling challenge in Lancashire in May. He’s raising money for the Children’s Heart Association and the Children’s Heart Federation, check out his Virgin Money Giving page to see how he’s getting on.
by Anne | Jan 19, 2014 | News
I’ve been to the children’s Cardiac Network meeting this afternoon. Things are changing and the aim is to work more closely together whether you are at Alder Hey, Manchester or at a local hospital to make sure that every child gets appropriate care and support. These changes will take place whatever the new national review decides.
There’s a new website in the pipeline which will show a clear pathway for GPs and parents so everyone knows what will happen to a child with a heart problem in our area.
There are new cardiologists being appointed in Liverpool and Manchester and each job specifies that there will be shared working at the other hospital to help bring the two teams closer together. We don’t yet have a questionnaire ready for parents but it’s top of the list to do.
I asked about the recent TV interest in the surgical teams at Alder Hey. The network monitor and publish the safety figures closely and there are no concerns with the cardiac surgery section. If any parents have any worries just let me know as I can put you in touch with the cardiac team who will take time to talk to you and listen to your concerns.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) specifically interviewed the cardiac team at Alder Hey and I will let you know their report as soon as it is published.
I also raised your concerns about the new booking system at Alder Hey. This has been particularly hard hitting to the cardiac outpatient system which had been performing well before, but has improved other areas of the hospital where queues had been a problem.
Next meeting in March so let me know if there’s anything you’d like me to feed back.
Anne Flear
Children’s Heart Association
