FUNDRAISERS are putting their hearts into raising money for Oxford’s latest specialist hospital.

Mothers and toddlers – and even superheros – will be taking part in a county-wide month-long campaign to drum up funds for the Oxford Heart Centre.

The £29m unit, which opened at the John Radcliffe Hospital campus in Headington last October, allows patients to be delivered from ambulances directly to specialised treatment rooms, speeding up care which could save patients’ lives.

The Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals charitable funds team wants to raise another £2m to provide facilities over and above what NHS funding can cover, and create a more comfortable setting for the 20,000 patients a year expected to use the centre.

The team has drawn up a campaign called Put Your Heart Into It, with events taking place throughout this month.

Among the events already arranged are buggy races in Witney, a dinner party in Cumnor, and a superheroes cycle ride through Oxford city centre.

The campaign is being supported by the leisure centre operator Nexus, which runs south Oxfordshire’s leisure centres, and Get Oxfordshire Active – Go Active – which is putting on a series of fun keep-fit activities around the county to raise money for the cause.

Heart Centre staff launched the campaign today with a sponsored static cycle ride, in the reception area of the John Radcliffe Hospital.

Fundraising manager Janet Sprake said: “Few families are untouched by heart disease – it’s one of the biggest killers in the UK – so we wanted to spread the fundraising across Oxfordshire and have events throughout the month to make this as accessible as possible to all.

“We’re grateful to Go Active and Nexus for their support and really hope as many people as possible will get involved.”

Shirley Carter, 41, from Wantage, decided to do her bit to raise money for the centre to thank staff for helping her father by losing weight and raising money at the same time.

She is being sponsored to lose half a stone by eating healthily and cutting out junk food throughout February.

She said: “My dad, Thomas Carter, had heart bypass surgery just before Christmas and it was a very anxious time.

“But we’re all so relieved now it’s out of the way and dad seems so much better.

“The facilities in the new centre are a great improvement. There was a lot more privacy and it was all very well equipped.

“It’s nice to be able to do something like this to say thank you.”

To find out more about the events taking place or for advice on how to hold your own, call Janet Sprake on 01865 743443, see the ORH charity website or the Go Active website.

  • Mother-of-two Rachel Bates, from Cumnor, is hosting a red-themed dinner party for six couples to raise money for the appeal.

Ms Bates, 39, decided to support the Oxford Heart Centre as a way of saying thanks to the team at the John Radcliffe Hospital after they saved her father Ron Wilkins’s life more than 15 years ago.

She said: “My dad had a heart attack and his life was saved by the paramedics and then by the triple bypass that was performed on him at the hospital.

“I have always wanted to find a way to thank the team that looked after him, so when I heard about this I decided to organise a red-themed dinner party around Valentine’s Day and have asked all my guests to make a contribution to the appeal.”

Mr Wilkins, a retired manager from Morland Brewery, in Abingdon, is now aged 76 and in good health.

  • Emma Radley is taking part in a fundraising buggy race for the appeal with her six-month-old baby daughter Eva.

Mrs Radley, of Wenman Close, Witney, will be pushing Eva’s buggy on a four-mile circuit around the town with her husband Steven.

The 31-year-old said there was a history of heart illness in her family and she wanted to raise money for the centre at the same as improving her fitness.

She said: “It’s a really good way to get fit and for a great cause too.

“My grandparents both had a history of heart trouble, so I know how important the work they do at the centre is.”