Southampton cardiac charity receives £6,000 donation from a local trust

Kay and Adrian Butterworth

A cardiac charity in Southampton has received a kind donation of £6,000 from the Marden Charitable Trust.

Trustees of the Marden Charitable Trust, Kay and Adrian Butterworth from Brockenhurst in the New Forest, have made the biggest donation of their financial year to cardiac charity Heartbeat to acknowledge its work supporting Kay as she underwent treatment for a heart condition.

In 2022, Kay visited her local surgery as she had swollen ankles and legs water retention and breathlessness.  She was given water pills but symptoms continued - culminating in her emergency admission to Southampton General Hospital in May 2025 with congestive heart failure.   

Following this, she sought help from Lead Heart Failure Consultant Cardiologist at University Hospital Southampton and a Trustee of Heartbeat Dr Paul Haydock.  He quickly ascertained the left side of Kays’ heart was not working properly and the right side was over compensating to keep up - resulting in the symptoms she had been suffering from. Kay had a pacemaker installed at the end of last year.

Kay said she received second-to-none high-quality care and wanted to say thank you to the team at Heartbeat for the treatment she received and added: “Anyone who has been in and out of hospital to receive treatment will know the toll it can take on everyone close to you. Treatment I received at the hospital, but particularly from Paul Haydock and his team, gave both me and my family the reassurance that I was in safe hands.”

Adrian said: “As trustees of the Marden Charitable Trust, our aim is to give money to local organisations that do meaningful work – and we have a preference for charities that have human or nature interests. When Kay became unwell, saying thank you to Heartbeat didn’t only fit us personally, but it fitted the Trust’s aims perfectly well too.

“As a Trust we also like to make meaningful donations, rather than just a one-off, so we’re hoping to continue supporting Heartbeat to acknowledge the difference it’s made for us.”

The funds will go towards the renovation of the heart failure unit at the University Hospital Southampton.

Community Fundraising and Marketing Manager at Heartbeat Tanya Harder said: “We were delighted when we heard that Kay and Adrian wanted to make such a generous donation. To know that Kay has personally benefitted from our support makes it even more special. So much of what we do is funded by charitable donations – we couldn’t make an impact without the generosity and kindness of others.”