Skittles Evening
A West Sussex woman was so bowled over by her stay at Heartbeat House that in return she organised a successful skittles evening and raised £1,300 for Wessex Heartbeat.
Despite having no previous experience at fundraising or event management, Sue Littlejohns, of Heron Cott Barn Road, East Wittering, threw herself into the charity evening. "I had a few sleepless nights before the event worrying about how it would turn out and whether I could sell the required number of tickets to make it a success. I have never tried to organise anything like this before, but once I got my teeth into it I kept coming up with ideas," she said. The skittles evening was held at The Gribble Inn at Oving, near Chichester on Valentine's Day. "I intentionally planned it for that day because I felt that the heart was what it was all in aid of - that was important to me," she added.
Sue, a retired carer, who has two grown-up daughters Teresa and Denise and four grandchildren, stayed at Heartbeat House in October 2008 when her husband Pete underwent open-heart surgery at the Wessex Cardiac Centre at Southampton General Hospital. Within 12 weeks of being referred by consultants at St Richard's Hospital in Chichester, Pete a self-employed electrician was in the care of the Wessex Cardiac Centre.
"I was so overwhelmed by the kindness shown and appreciative of how the centre included the wife or partner in the whole process," said Sue. "You met the whole team and were introduced to those people who would be dealing with you beforehand and involved in the aftercare."
Sue originally planned to say only one night in Heartbeat House, but ended up there for six nights. "It had a wonderful atmosphere and it did help having people there who were in the same boat. It took some of the stress away, not only for myself, but also for Pete, who felt more reassured that I was not having to make the daily journey between home and hospital.
"It was because of this experience that I wanted to give something back and that's when I came up with the idea of a fundraising skittles evening, which included a raffle and a silent auction.
Sue enlisted the help of her two sons-in law, Leo Kelly and Tony Taylor to help with the skittles and her friend Ann Boxall made a heart-shaped cake with the Wessex Heartbeat logo on it. Sue is now planning a further fund raising event, which will be in East Wittering at a date yet to be confirmed.
