Hearts & Souls rounded off a very busy summer of reaching out into the community by attending the Hazlemere Fete held on the Sir William Ramsay school site. We would like to thank everyone who came to our stall for chat to find out more about the charity or contributed to our fund raising effort on bank holiday Monday.

It is not every day to get to meet and have your photo taken with Elvis or get totally crowded out in a Hearts & Souls gazebo during the few sudden downpours throughout the day, with one gentleman even making a nice donation for the privilege!

It has been an absolute pleasure to again meet up with some former patients both new and old and swap our heart/rehab experiences and particularly meeting up with our patron Tony McHale who always shows a genuine passion for the charity and another former patient who has offered his professional skills to us and we look forward to working together.

However, there is one particular heart-warming story from one of our volunteers that has to be shared:

“The highlight of my day today was a lovely 73 year old lady who spoke to me who knew nothing about our charity but just wanted to thank us all for all of our hard work.

She goes out of her way to talk to charities at these types of events and listened to me explaining what we do. This wonderful lady then asked me if it was OK to give me a hug which of course I said yes, and then she told me that she had COPD and asthma. She gave a cash donation and another hug telling me yet again what a great job we were all doing!”

Despite the changeable weather I think I can safely say we all enjoyed the day immensely, especially Andy on the tombola (again).

A massive thank-you to Hazlemere fete for organising such a popular community event and our volunteers who made this all possible – we are looking forward to doing it all again!

For some general photos from around the fete – click here

On Bank Holiday Monday we will be out and about again this time at the Hazlemere Fete (see ‘events diary‘ for details), please do come up to us and say hello.

Hearts & Souls bring to a close our busy summer of events reaching out into the community when, for the second year running, we are pleased to be attending the highly enjoyable and successful Hazlemere Fete on Bank Holiday Monday, 31st August at Sir William Ramsay school field ….. a family fun day out for all that is free to enter!

Please stop by and say hello and find out how we help those recovering from recent cardiac events here in South Bucks.

[photo is not necessarily the actual bike to be purchased]

In addition, with the current heat wave in mind, the charity is also purchasing two additional 20” floor fans, this should help make the exercise sessions a little more comfortable during the hot weather.

These, together with some other small ancillary equipment, is a considerable commitment from the charity and only made possible through your generous donations, we thank you for your continued support.

For anyone who has wondered about the people behind Hearts & Souls, here Peter (chairman) tells his story of how and why he become involved in the charity.

“….. On the back of my fund-raising efforts I was invited to join the Hearts & Souls committee and became a trustee of the charity in 2021, initially helping with the web site. The charity, which is run by volunteers all who have graduated through the rehab (so fully understand and appreciate the benefits provided by this service), is little known outside those who have passed through the programme, meaning that most donations are generated from this source. The very nature of the charity means that most are either elderly or recovering from ill health – not very favourable for taking on any energetic fund raising challenges!”

To read the full story – click here

Have you been through Cardiac Rehab. programme with the Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust?

What 2 or 3 individual words best describe your experience?

Above are some words recent patients have used to descibe their sessions.

The above photo has been used on the ‘about us‘ page.

They decided many years ago to do two concerts per year, with free entry but asking for donations for a charity they were supporting that year.  The group also get asked by local clubs to perform and although they have to pay a fee for the services of the musical director, often also give generously to the chosen charity.

They chose Hearts & Souls this year because a member of the directors family had heart surgery recently and although he did not attend rehab at High Wycombe, still appreciated the service it provided.  The choir had seen information regarding the Hearts & Souls and our work with the local cardiac rehab and as they prefer to give to local causes, this fitted the bill perfectly – and we thank them for their choice!

Donations like this are vitally important to the charity in order to raise funds. This, and any other donations received by Hearts & Souls, will go directly to support the cardiac rehab team to improve the outcome for recovering cardiac patients in Buckinghamshire.

Again, we met and spoke with many people regarding our work with the Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust cardiac rehab unit at Wycombe hospital as well as forming many good connections with other local groups, where we hope to continue to build positive relationships to benefit recovering heart  patients.