Join our Connecting Hearts appeal and help us support even more heart families in times of need.
To mark World Heart Day on 29th September, we’re excited to launch our Connecting Hearts appeal to help support more families affected by congenital heart disease, helping them feel less alone and being there for them at every stage of their heart journey.
Click the pink button below now to add your message to the Connecting Hearts paper chain, then share it with friends, family and colleagues to give it the best start possible!
Share a message of love & support
Your message can be anything you want – a message of love or support, a memory of a loved one, a personal experience, a “thank you” to someone who’s helped you, or even a birthday greeting. It will stay with us forever, and you can add more chains when you want to.
Make an EVEN BIGGER difference: As a small charity, setting up a regular donation to ECHO is one of the kindest ways to help us. By giving a regular donation, you can ensure ECHO can continue supporting heart families when they need it most. If you feel you can, please select the “I’d like to give regularly“ option when you add your message to our Connecting Hearts appeal.
About ECHO
At ECHO we provide practical support from the moment of diagnosis, throughout any treatment and care pathway or bereavement. Families are supported at every stage of their heart journey, and are welcomed into a community of shared experience and community at times when there is often little other support available.
We receive no government or NHS funding and rely solely on public generosity to ensure that we continue to support and empower children, young people and families affected by heart disease.
Why we need you: Finch’s story
Finch was born with a rare heart condition and spent weeks in Paediatric Intensive Care (PICU) when he was born. In the near future Finch may need open heart surgery. ECHO have supported the family since Finch was diagnosed with a heart condition, at his Mum Sofia’s 12 week scan in pregnancy.
“If it wasn’t for the support we had from ECHO, friends and family, then there is no way we would have remained as strong as we did throughout the pregnancy and the start of Finch’s life.
Finch went straight to intensive care when he was born. I felt helpless; not being able to hold my new baby was such a hard thing.
Our boy is now two and has brought happiness and love to our lives that we never knew existed.
To look at him you would never know what he has been through – the strength, fight and bravery these babies have in them is unbelievable!
ECHO are an amazing charity, they prepared us for exactly what to expect and if it wasn’t for the support of ECHO along with friends and family then I truly believe we would have hit rock bottom.”
How you make a difference
Some recent examples of ways that donations have enabled us to support heart families:
“When a child is in hospital for over 12 months, bills, work and outside commitments can cause stress and add to the pressure parents have, ECHO negotiated some reduced rail travel so Dad could continue working part time and spend time with his child in hospital.”
“Three members of one family came to our bereavement support events, they shared their pain and supported others.”
“The call came in from another London hospital, an ECHO family needed our support and our cardiac support worker arranged visits and emotional support.”
“A patient admitted to the adult wards, facing a triple transplant and coping with transition from children’s services needed smiles, we sent volunteers with personal messages of support and smiles”
“Appeals for DLA (Disability Living Allowance) were won with the support of new guidance and campaigning by ECHO and the CHD charity network assessors now have information on CHD in packs”
“In loving memory- ECHO provided Rice Pots to children at our wellness day in memory of a little girl whose parents wanted help to carry out their Hindu tradition after Jada’s passing”
“Children in the treatment room on Savannah Ward were greeted with a surprise gift after those painful tests”
More about our work: