2017 has been a busy year for ECHO. With over 5000 people attending outpatient appointments at Evelina London and over 800 staying in hospital, our volunteers have been busy with ward visits, toy collections and supporting families. We’ve opened our first office and resource space opposite Evelina London Children’s Hospital which has helped our charity grow from strength to strength.Our volunteer team continues to grow, with increased numbers of heart parent volunteers as well as welcoming lots of new volunteers to the ECHO Community. We’ve also seen many people reach new heights, through our Sky Dive Challenge and the ECHO Teens who challenged themselves to climb London’s O2 raising much needed funds for ECHO. We've been blown away by the herculean efforts of our supporters who've carried out fantastic fundraising events, challenges and activities throughout the year, including last weekend's BMXLife Santa Cruise which took London by storm. And finally, during the summer we launched a new website providing a much improved informative resource for heart families.

Whilst there has been much good news in 2017 an unfortunate reality of the past 2 years is that ECHO has received less in donations. If this doesn't change we will be forced to pause or stop some ECHO services.

In the past week we've sent a letter to all members from two of our patrons, Dr Owen Miller and Professor Shakeel Qureshi, asking for everyone to do what they can to support ECHO.

We recognise Christmas is an expensive time of year, but we hope you can support us. 

One of the best things we can all do to support ECHO is to set up a monthly direct debit or get involved in fundraising.

It’s our 35th birthday next year and we're planning a bungee jump, our first overseas challenge - a BIG HEART bike ride across Costa Rica - and we can support you with your own ideas.

We welcome the chance to work with your companies or schools throughout this special celebration year, please do share both our letter and this email with your friends, families and colleagues.

The ECHO office will be closing at lunchtime on the 21st December 2017 and opening on 3rd January 2018. 

If you need medical advice we recommend you contact the relevant ward at Evelina London Children's Hospital: 

Evelina contact numbers are on our website

Through the year we have supported families at various stages of their CHD journey, for some the outcome was not what they had planned for, we send those families our sincerest warm wishes and appreciate the challenges this time of year can bring. We thank all of the hospital team for the extra hours and support they offer to families across the busy winter period and we wish each and every ECHO member, their families and friends, happy moments over the festive break.

Thank you for your ongoing support for ECHO.

Best wishes from Team ECHO,

Samantha, Emma, Siobhan and Diana