Little Riley McCutcheon with his medal!

The McCutcheon family from Lisburn raised the fantastic sum of £4,039.75 in aid of the Children’s Heartbeat Trust by encouraging friends and family to participate in the Lisburn Fun Run, 10k and Half Marathon, and organizing a charity night in the Derriaghy Cricket Club.

The motivation behind this fundraising was little Riley McCutcheon (2) who was born with a serious heart defect, and received treatment in Clark Clinic at the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children.

Stephen, Lisa and Riley McCutcheon would like to thank everyone who helped, sponsored and supported them in their fundraising efforts.

Dr Craig with Beth's parents, Elaine and Ivan.

Ivan and Elaine Wilkinson recently presented a cheque to Dr Craig, from donations made in lieu of flowers, to the Children’s Heartbeat Trust and the Children’s MRI Scanner Appeal. The donations were made in memory of their baby daughter, Beth, who spent her short life (5 months) in the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children.

Why not take part in a heartfelt challenge in aid of children with heart disease in Northern Ireland. ‘Liam’s Little Hearts Walk’ will take place on Saturday 10 March starting at Craigavon Area Hospital and finishing at the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children (RBHSC).

The walk follows a journey made each year by countless families who have a baby born in Craigavon Area Hospital that needs to be transferred to Clark Clinic, RBHSC for emergency treatment for a heart condition. This is the second year of the walk, which was originally organised to raise funds for the Children’s Heartbeat Trust by the Clifford family from Craigavon.

Joanne Clifford said ‘The walk was initially thought up as a way to fundraise for the Children’s Heartbeat Trust and Clark Clinic at the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children (RBHSC) and to say thank-you for the support and help given to our family when our son Liam was born. Liam was born in Craigavon Area Hospital on 12.03.2010 and he started to turn blue almost immediately. He was stabilised at Craigavon before being rushed to the paediatric cardiology team at the RBHSC, where he was diagnosed with pulmonary artresia, which stops deoxygenated blood from reaching his lungs and a ventricular septal defect (VSD) which is a hole in the wall of the heart. In his first year he had to undergo two open heart surgery’s which were thankfully successful. He celebrated his first birthday the same day as his dad, Gerald finished the inaugural ‘Liam’s Walk’.

‘The support offered for the families by the charity is ongoing and so wanted to make ‘Liam’s Little Hearts Walk an annual event, continuing to raise funds to support other families who have had similar experiences to ours.’

This year we will be offering personalised sponsor packs so each participant can highlight the bravery of a child they know who has heart disease and raise funds in that child’s name.

If the entire walk seems daunting, participants can choose to be part of a 4 person relay team or simply join in for as much as they can.

For further information and to get your sponsorship form please contact Sarah Quinlan on 07584 164 815, email info@childrensheartbeattrust.org or visit www.childrensheartbeattrust.org

(L-R) James Donaghy (centre) accepts the fundraising on behalf of the Children's Heartbeat Trust from (L-R) Ronan McCloskey; Dermot McElhinney, Eoin Mullan and Conor Lavery. James and Conor each have a child with a heart condition, and have benefited from the support offered by the Children's Heartbeat Trust.

Maghera Cycling Club, Carn Wheelers organized a charity cycle in aid of the Children’s Heartbeat Trust, which was by all accounts a brilliant, if strenous day out! Thanks so much to all who participated and sponsored the cyclists!

The organizers of the event would like to thank those who made and/or served refreshments, the mayor of Limavady for his contribution and help towards marshalling, for those that ‘manned’ food stations, businesses who sponsored the event, the cyclists who attended the event and anyone else who contributed in any way!

Some of the Scallywag members of Dramarama pictured with Sarah of the Children's Heartbeat Trust and Dramarama organiser, Michelle Doran

Dramarama, a local children’s drama group run in Castlewellan by the Dorans Academy of Speech and Drama, raised the fantastic sum of £481.15 in aid of the Children’s Heartbeat Trust by donating the proceeds from their annual Christmas Charity show.

Thank-you to Michelle Dorans, who runs Dramarama for putting on such a fantastic show!

BMW Motorcycle Club (Ulster) on tour!

The Ulster Section of the BMW Motorcycle Club handing over their Charity of the Year fundraising to Sarah Quinlan from the Children's Hearbeat Trust

Doors open at 8pm for a night of great music from Ally Harron & Marion Curry, John Garrety, Sean Loughrey, Patrick McKenna, Sean Corrigan, Anthony McBrien and Carmel Gallagher. £10/ticket