In 1982, a group of parents of children with Congenital Heart Disease, set up the Young at Heart Charity so that they could offer additional support to other heart families such as theirs so no one felt isolated and understood what families were going through. All Trustees had something in common, a child with a poorly heart. They provided a link for members to talk to. It could not have been an easy task to set up a charity back then, but the Founder Trustees voluntarily gave tirelessly of their time and energy to work alongside the services and medical care at the Birmingham Children’s Hospital and provided much needed help to heart families. They raised thousands of pounds over the years to help provide a forum for families to meet socially for trips, parties and other events. They provided a holiday caravan for family retreats, had a thriving Teenage section and contributed towards medical equipment to support the Hospital. They saw many changes over the first 21 years of the charity including when the Hospital moved from Ladywood to Steelhouse Lane in 1997. Which was actually where the Children’s Hospital was originally founded in 1862.
In 2005, Sandra Ramsey became the new Chair and Debra Bailey the Vice Chair with Martina Ponsonby as Trustee. In 2006, Craig Elliott, an Accountant at the time, volunteered his services and joined the team as Treasurer. During that time, there have been many changes and improvements made within cardiac services. The Trustees led a campaign and were pivotal in increasing intensive care beds for our PICU, which was a huge help for ensuring cardiac surgeries could go ahead. The Charity was also extremely active in the fundraising campaign for the new £2 million Hybrid operating theatre in 2011 and has been involved in many research projects in support of Cardiac services.
In early 2021 a new Board of Trustees, volunteers and parents of heart children, took Young at Heart forward as it embarked upon a new and exciting adventure. Already an active Trustee since 2014, Claire Donnelly became the new Chair of Trustees. Jessica Ratcliffle became Vice Chair and Emma Byrne the Treasurer. Claire Webster continues to be a valued Trustee and we welcomed several other new Trustees. The Board of Trustees are all volunteers and everything the charity achieve is due to the passion and dedication of the Board of Trustees and the Charites supporters.
Young at Heart has provided many INR machines over the years to help alleviate the pressures upon heart children and their families for checking their blood levels when on Warfarin. We have also provided many defibrillators to families and also to Birmingham Children's Hospital so they can issue to families to keep at home. The Charity also keeps families up dated with newsletters and supportive information along with a thriving social media support link. The annual Christmas Party is the main social event of the year for many families to have fun and interact with other heart families and many long-term friendships have been made over the years.
In 2021, Young at Heart became the first UK heart charity to become an official licenced centre for the Duke of Edinburgh Awards. This means that Young at Heart are able to offer the award scheme to all our heart children and siblings, regardless of abilities we can adapt the award scheme to suit each young adult wanting to complete the Bronze, Silver or Gold Awards.
In 2022 Young at Heart felt proud and honoured to receive the QAVS. The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service is the highest award given to local volunteer groups across the UK to recognise outstanding work done in their own communities. It was created in 2002 to celebrate the anniversary of The Queen’s coronation. It is the MBE for volunteer groups. Later that year we then won the MBCC Charity of the Year Award.
Huge thanks go to Founder Chair, the late Ray Hickinbotham and his family, all the Founder Trustees, and past Trustees. Their legacy continues today over 40 years later. The future looks bright and is sure to thrive and continue the legacy.
The ethos of Young at Heart is "giving" and NOT "taking".
Huge thanks go to Founder Chair, the late Ray Hickinbotham and his family and all the Founder Trustees. Their legacy continues today almost 40 years later.
In 2005, due to a decline in Member and fundraising support, the Founding Trustees felt it was time to step away from the Charity but still wanted it to continue. Most of their heart children were older and they felt it was time to move on but there was still a place for Young at Heart and so that year, with the support and guidance of the committee, a new board of volunteer Trustees was established to enable the Charity’s journey to continue. Already an active Trustee since 2004, Sandra Ramsey became the new Chair and Debra Bailey the Vice Chair with Martina Ponsonby as Trustee. In 2006, Craig Elliott, an Accountant at the time, volunteered his services and joined the team as Treasurer. Several years later he enrolled as a Police Officer but continued in his role as Treasurer. However, after 15 years of stalwart support he is moving on to pursue his career and hopes to achieve Detective Constable very soon.
The ethos of Young at Heart remained the same and does to this day, 16 years later.
During that time, there have been many changes and improvements made within cardiac services. The Trustees led a campaign and were pivotal in increasing intensive care beds for our PICU, which was a huge help for ensuring cardiac surgeries could go ahead. The Charity was also extremely active in the fundraising campaign for the new £2 million Hybrid operating theatre in 2011 and has been involved in many research projects in support of Cardiac services.
Young at Heart has provided many INR machines over the years to help alleviate the pressures upon heart children and their families for checking their blood levels when on Warfarin. We have also provided many defibrillators to families and also to Birmingham Children's Hospital so they can issue to families to keep at home. The Charity also keeps families up dated with newsletters and supportive information along with a thriving social media support link. The annual Christmas Party is the main social event of the year for many families to have fun and interact with other heart families and many long-term friendships have been made over the years.
The past 2 years though has seen an ever decreasing decline in support, especially fundraising and after much soul searching Sandra and Martina made the difficult decision to step down as Chair and Vice Chair. They will continue to support Young at Heart behind the scenes in an advisory role within Cardiac services with Research, Transition and Mental Wellbeing.
In early 2021 a new Board of Trustees, volunteers and parents of heart children, will take Young at Heart forward as it embarks upon a new and exciting adventure. Already an active Trustee since 2014, Claire Donnelly became the new Chair of Trustees. Jessica Ratcliffle became Vice Chair and Emma Byrne the Treasurer. Claire Webster continues to be a valued Trustee and we welcomed Lee Freeman as a new Trustee. The Board of Trustees are all volunteers and everything the charity achieve is due to the passion and dedication of the Board of Trustees and the Charites supporters.
The future looks bright and is sure to thrive and continue the legacy started nearly 40 years ago.
The ethos of Young at Heart is "giving" and NOT "taking".
