Leeds United is delighted to announce Children’s Heart Surgery Fund (CHSF) as the club’s Charity of the Year for the 2018/19 season.

Following a formal process of online nominations, five local charities were shortlisted and face to face presentations took place with representatives from the club - the decision was then made to build a partnership with the local charity that supports children and adults born with congenital heart disease.

The aim of the year-long campaign was for Leeds United to leave a lasting legacy that will greatly benefit people throughout Leeds. This partnership will hopefully do just that and there will be a number of projects within the partnership  to ensure all bases are covered in helping to save the lives of these young heart heroes, support their families and celebrate their recoveries and their bravery.

The Leeds United CEO, Angus Kinnear, spoke about the process and
decision and said: “This decision was definitely harder than we expected, we had around 200 applications and the five charities we met with were all fantastic with some brilliant ideas so a big thank you to all of them for their hard work.

“I’m delighted we have chosen Children’s Heart Surgery Fund to be our charity partner for 2018/19, the work they do everyday literally helps to save lives and we want to be a part of that.

“We will work with them to raise as much money as possible with our
incredible, loyal supporters that will not only help raise awareness about what they do but also support with a number of initiatives that will help to save the lives of these young heart patients and create the best environment for their families through some of the toughest times.”

Together the club and charity will  raise vital funds that will provide life-saving equipment including Super Life-Support Machines and a new Dialysis Machine for the Children’s Intensive Care Unit at the Leeds General Infirmary.

Every year, these life-support machines will give a percentage of the 400 children that undergo open heart surgery better chances of survival during a really difficult recovery. They are specialist ventilators and breathe for the child to give their heart and lungs time to get stronger. The much-needed Dialysis Machine is key to saving the lives of youngsters with heart disease. This piece of equipment acts as an artificial kidney and protects the child until the heart is strong enough to
pump blood effectively to the body’s organs again following open heart surgery.

Monies raised will also go towards completely refurbishing the CHSF
family unit provision at the local hospital which currently consists of seven bedrooms, a kitchen and lounge area, as well as funding the accommodation they offer to families of patients next door to the hospital, keeping parents and siblings close by.

Another strand of the campaign, which will run throughout the entire season, will see the Whites help to create once-in-a-lifetime memories for the young heart patients and their families that they will be able to cherish through some of the hardest times they will ever face – whether this is through special visits with the first-team players and coaching staff, exclusive tours of Elland Road and Thorp Arch or the opportunity to lead the team out of the tunnel at Elland Road ahead of a game.

Sharon Milner, CEO at Children’s Heart Surgery Fund, said: “We are absolutely thrilled and very grateful to be chosen as the charity partner for Leeds this season, and can’t wait to get the ball rolling.

“Working with the club to reach the project aims will be inspiring to all its supporters, and our community of babies, children, teenagers and adults living with congenital heart disease – and their families.

“We are confident that working with you all will help us in our goal to support hearts for life.”

Together with Children’s Heart Surgery Fund (CHSF) the club hopes to
create something special that the fans can be a part of and engage with, this will include taking part in fundraising activities, joining in with social
media campaigns and spreading the word of the hard work the staff at CHSF do every day to help save the lives of young children.

Keep an eye out across all official Leeds United channels for stories relating to the campaign and to hear about how you can get involved.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.