Club Doncaster plans final event to boost total for the British Heart Foundation.
Dedicated supporters at Doncaster Rovers have shown they are all heart by already raising thousands for pounds for the British Heart Foundation (BHF) – and staff members are planning one final event to help smash their £5,000 partnership target.
Saturday marks the end of the one year charity partnership with the BHF and all fans are asked to wear red on the day to back their team and help celebrate the charity's great work.
BHF volunteers will be holding a bucket collection on the day and supporters are asked to bring £1 each to throw into the buckets. The money you’ll raise will help fund the BHF’s Nation of Lifesavers programme to train all young people how to save a life through CPR training.
When someone has a cardiac arrest, every second counts. Jim Lynskey, a student in South Yorkshire, is only 21 and his life has already been saved twice by CPR.
Soon after birth, Jim caught viral meningitis, and developed a condition called dilated cardiomyopathy.
His heart had become enlarged and baggy meaning it couldn’t pump blood properly. At eight years old, Jim had to be resuscitated with the help of CPR after suffering two cardiac arrests.
Nine years after his cardiac arrests, Jim was at football training when he suffered another cardiac arrest and doctors managed to resuscitate him, again using CPR, and an external defibrillator.
A month later, he was fitted with a mechanical heart. Jim is the youngest person in the UK with an LVAD, a mechanical heart pump that keeps him alive.
Jim feels lucky and grateful to be alive. He still loves watching football and will be the guest of honour at the home game against Luton Town on Saturday 18th February.
Gavin Baldwin, chief executive at Club Doncaster says: “Heart disease affects us all in some way and so for us it’s important that we’ve been working with the BHF to be a part of the fight against it. We are serious about this partnership so I’m delighted that staff together with supporters and suppliers, have already excelled in their fundraising. We hope fans will help us finish off our year of fundraising and push us over our target.”
Lauren Mallinson, BHF partnership manager north added: ““It’s thanks to the dedicated efforts of our supporters, including our corporate partners, that the BHF is able to fund our Nation of Lifesavers – a nation where everyone knows how to save a life. The amount raised already through this partnership is incredible and we look forward to this final event.”
For more information on how the BHF works with corporate partners, as well as how your business can get involved, visit www.bhf.org.uk.
Tickets for Saturday's clash with Luton Town are available now from our Box Office in person, by calling 01302 762576 or going to tickets.clubdoncaster.co.uk.