Children’s Heart Surgery Fund (CHSF) won a £1,000 festive financial boost from Ecclesiastical Insurance late last year thanks to nominations from the public.
And the charity, which has supported the Leeds Congenital Heart Unit since 1988, has put the money towards a revolutionary “headlight camera” for heart surgeons.
CHSF was one of 120 winning charities to receive an early Christmas gift in 2020, of a £1,000 donation as part of specialist insurer Ecclesiastical’s annual 12 days of giving Christmas campaign.
Members of the public were invited to nominate a charity to win a share of £120,000 and CHSF was amongst the winners which were drawn at random.
Evelyn Hazzard, CHSF’s Trusts and Foundations Manager said:
My colleagues at Children’s Heart Surgery Fund and I are delighted that we were a lucky recipient of an award from Ecclesiastical’s Twelve Days of Giving.
This award will help to fund a Headlight Camera that will be worn by surgeons when they operate on young patients with congenital heart disease at the Leeds Congenital Heart Unit.
Our thanks to Ecclesiastical for their generous support which will help to improve the care and outcomes for babies and children in Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire with complex heart conditions.
The LookCam2 projects images onto a TV screen
The state-of-the-art “LookCam2” Headlight Camera will be worn by surgeons during complex heart procedures, with the images displayed in the operating theatre on a television screen.
The other members of the theatre team can therefore gain a better understanding of the procedure that is in progress.
This is important for teaching, training and overall improvement of the quality of care to patients, and videos could also be recorded for later review.
Mark Hews, Group chief executive at Ecclesiastical, said:
As a commercial company with a charitable purpose, giving back is at the heart of our business.
We would like to thank every single person who took the time to nominate a good cause as part of our annual 12 days of giving Christmas campaign.
We know that £1,000 can make a huge difference to the incredible work that charities do and we’re looking forward to seeing how this financial boost will change lives for the better.