WORLD-LEADING HOME FOR HEART RESEARCH UNDER DEVELOPMENT, AS £650,000 TARGET SMASHED!

Heart unit staff, charity partners and fundraisers came together to celebrate the generosity of people in our local community and the combined efforts of Our Hospitals Charity and South Cleveland Heart Fund.

The charities’ Hearts + Minds campaign mobilised generous people in the community into fundraising action, with a clear aim to bring first class cardiovascular research facilities to Teesside, including what will be known as the Academic Cardiovascular Unit (ACU).

Lisa Meehan, fundraising manager at Our Hospitals Charity, said: “We are over the moon to have reached our target, especially in the current climate when times are hard for people.

“Once again, it just goes to show the generosity of people in our region is truly amazing.

“This new research unit will help so many of our loved ones by helping reduce the risk of heart attacks – it’s just fantastic for our area and it’s all thanks to the generosity of our incredible fundraisers!”

Rebecca Maier, who will head up the ACU, said the unit would crucially enable design, management and delivery teams to be located together.

“Co-locating will enable us to develop and deliver more research, with patients at the centre of what we do,” she said.

Professor Enoch Akowuah, consultant cardiothoracic surgeon and co-director of the ACU, said the unit could help countless people not just in the local community, but around the world, focusing on research which prevents heart attacks, develops exercise programmes in patients with heart problems and makes better use of data and digital technology in research.

Dr David Austin, consultant cardiologist and co-director of the ACU, said the unit would be a major step forward, making great strides in the future of heart care.

The unit will include a dedicated clinical setting for patients in research trials as well as a reception, patient waiting area, new office space and a meeting room.

Former consultant cardiologist Adrian Davies, now chairman of South Cleveland Heart Fund, said: “I am delighted that the long-awaited cardiothoracic research unit has finally come to fruition thanks to the South Cleveland Heart Fund and Our Hospitals Charity raising the £650,000 necessary.

“It will be the capstone of our excellent heart unit, further enhancing its reputation as one of the very best and improving care for heart patients both in our region and worldwide.”