Help us make a huge difference to children living with congenital heart disease (CHD) this Christmas.
We support hearts for life. We work to ensure that people born with congenital heart disease, a heart condition that develops in the womb, have the best health outcomes and quality of life, throughout their lives. We raise money to help the Leeds Congenital Heart Unit at the General Infirmary provide superb care for its patients and their families, but our work doesn’t stop there.
Working alongside the Leeds Congenital Heart Unit at Leeds General Infirmary, we are funded by generous donations from the general public, our corporate supporters and by the amazing efforts of our fundraisers. We’re only able to help because of your support, thank you. This Christmas, let’s turn the season of joy into a season of giving. Here are five fun and simple but impactful ways you can raise funds for the Children’s Hearts Surgery Fund this festive season:
1. Make Your Own Reindeer Food and Sell.
All you need to make some wildlife-friendly reindeer food is: bird seeds, rolled oats and some edible glitter. Mix it all together and decant into small bags. Add a little note – “Sprinkle on your lawn at night, the moon will make it sparkle bright. As Santa’s reindeer fly and roam, this will guide them to your home.”
2. Offer a Present Wrapping Service.
Are you a nab-hand at wrapping gifts? Lend your services to friends and family who aren’t as skilled with sticky tape and wrap their presents for them. Be sure to ask them to make a donation for your time, of course and send it to CHSF. Here you can buy Christmas gifts to help raise vital funding for the Children’s Heart Surgery Fund www.chsf.org.uk/shop-event-tickets
3. Get Festive Fit.
Join other supporters in our CHSF walking challenge – Step into Christmas! Complete the length of a marathon during the month of December. You might do a small walk every day or take on the full marathon in one go. We don’t mind, as long as you complete your 26.2 miles. So grab those antlers and Christmas jumper, lace up your trainers with tinsel and earn that Christmas Dinner by stepping into Christmas with CHSF SIGN UP NOW
If you fancy upping the pace, join us for Jingle All the Way 5K on Sunday 17th December. Grab those antlers and Christmas jumper, lace up your trainers with tinsel, sew sleigh bells to your running vest and spread the festive cheer on 17th December. Choose to run, walk or cycle 5K your own way – at home or in your local area, alone or with friends and family. Want some company? Some of the CHSF Team will be heading to Temple Newsam Leeds to complete their challenge so pop along and say ‘Hi!’.
4. ‘Deck Your Desks’ for CHSF.
If you work in an office or school, set up your own ‘Deck your Desk’ competition to raise funds for CHSF. Simply spruce up your desk or workspace in its festive best and invite your colleagues to a friendly decorating competition. You can contribute individually while decorating or gather a recommended £2 donation per desk, and then declare a winner in the office.
5. Get Dressed in Your Festive Finery.
A great one for at school, at work or even just with family. Grab your favourite frock, your sequin tie or your funkiest festive jumper and ‘dress down’ for the day. Everyone is charged a fee, and the funds are collected and donated to CHSF.
We’d love it if you did some festive fundraising for Children’s Heart Surgery Fund in the run up to Christmas to support our Christmas Appeal for 2023, Stay Another Day . Please help parents #StayAnotherDay and contribute to our £10,000 Christmas Appeal. Give what you can to enable future mums, dads and siblings to have a comfortable retreat when they need it most – knowing they can be at their child’s bedside in a heartbeat.
Mums and dads tell us how nearby accommodation is the most important support they receive while their child is being treated at the Leeds Congenital Heart Unit. If you have positive experiences of parent accommodation in Leeds, please tell everyone about them here when you make your contribution, to inspire others to donate Children’s Heart Surgery Fund From the early days of ‘The Bungalow’ at Killingbeck Hospital, to our current rooms at Brotherton Wing and annual funding of Eckersley House, we have only been able to offer parent accommodation because of your donations.
And this Christmas, we are asking for your help. To offer ‘room at the inn’ for future mums, dads, carers and siblings, please give what you can to our #StayAnotherDay appeal. We know giving family members an inviting space to recharge while a poorly baby or child is being treated in Leeds also enables the patient’s recovery.
We need to raise at least £10k every year so families can stay near their children and we have calculated that around 10,000 families have stayed in parent accommodation since CHSF started in 1988. £10,000 is a necessity to enable CHSF to offer this service in the future, but is also symbolic of all those who have benefited to date.
Our vision is to support hearts for life and our mission is to support the Leeds Congenital Heart Unit as a world-class centre of excellence – by providing the funding and resources needed to care for a patient’s heart, mind, family and future.
- Facebook: facebook.com/ChildrensHeartSurgeryFund
- 𝕏: x.com/CHSurgeryFund
- CHSF website: chsf.org.uk
- JustGiving: www.justgiving.com/chsf
- Cheques to: Children’s Heart Surgery Fund, Suite D17, Joseph’s Well, Hanover Walk, Leeds, LS3 1AB
This year our heart unit needs your help more than ever. Thank you for your support this Christmas, and beyond CHSF Stay Another Day Christmas Appeal
