here - Little Hearts Matter

Finally I have some wonderful news.We have a new Vice-President.As you know our Patron, Presidentand Trustee Valerie Howarth, or to giveher her full title, Baroness Howarth ofBreckland has many friends in the Houseof Lords. Through her talking about thecharity she has gained the interest andsupport of another member of the House,Baroness Rendell of Babergh. Most ofyou will know her better as Ruth Rendellthe famous writer of detective fiction. Weare so excited to have her on board."I have a soft spot for charities thathelp children. When I think about LittleHearts Matter and what they do I tryputting myself into the shoes of thesechildren's parents. I have, as you mightguess, a pretty active imagination andthough I don't come near to enteringinto their fear or feeling with their love, Ido manage a degree of empathy. Thatempathy doesn't make me feel humbleor ashamed. It makes me feel lucky. Itbrings me to an enormous admirationfor these brave children and their evenbraver parents."I hope to see many of you at the Safeand Sustainable regional consultationevents. Please remember that the LHMteam are here if we can help in any way.THANK YOULHM In The MediawithEmma Pellingemma@pellingpr.co.uk0207 624 7533It was lovely to meet up again withso many of you at the Open Day inMarch. I’m always surprised at howmuch the children have grown sinceI last saw them! It was also great tomeet new families and talk to themabout how they can support thecharity through media work.As you all know, the Safe andSustainable review of children’sheart services has been high on theagenda over the past few monthsand I have been working consistentlywith the media. Firstly, I’d like to saya big thank you to all of you thathave offered to support this processby showing your interest in talking tothe media about your experiences.It is so important that your views areheard and I am working hard atgetting your voices aired as widelyas possible.During February we were featuredprominently in the Independentnewspaper. Louise Hall was interviewedfor this piece and talked clearly aboutthe need for change (many of youwould have also heard Louisetalking about this at the Open Day).As we go out to consultation therewill be on-going media interest and Iwill be focussing on regional mediaover the coming weeks.Looking back to the last part of2010, highlights included HannahPalmer speaking at an event at theHouse of Commons with the mostamazing clarity and focus aboutthree main aspects of her life andabout the need for politicians andNHS teams to always keep childrenand young people born with heartconditions high on the priority list forcare. The event was to give MPsthe opportunity to meet withmembers of the Cardio and VascularCoalition, a collection of some 47cardiac or vascular charities whorepresent users of cardiac services.Over the Christmas period PaigeLaight kindly put her name to aBirmingham based Christmasappeal on behalf of Little HeartsMatters. Thank you Paige!The awareness team is continuingto work on the shaping of theJourney to Independence which willbe our key communication focus forthis year.As always, please send me yournews and I look forward to being intouch with many of you soon.Many of you may have noticed thatwe have updated our logo. We wouldlike to express our sincerest thanksto Sarah Durkin, who is a member ofLHM and whose daughter Cerys hasa single ventricle heart condition, andher sister 'Aunty Sharon' who haveso very kindly donated their designskills and redesigned the LHM logovoluntarily.They are also designing a brand new'Journey to Independence' brochureand helping us look at all of ourrebranding.Thank you so much Sarah, Sharonand Cerys, we really appreciate allyour help and work, and love what youare doing.Hannah Palmer, Suzie Hutchinson, JonBrunskill at the House of Commons3