Heartfelt charity reflects on “buzzing, busy year”

Tuesday 01 January 2019

A Jersey heart charity which was founded after the tragic death of a local man who died of a heart condition he didn’t know he had reflects on their “buzzing” 2018 as well as looking ahead to what 2019 holds.

The Neil Hussey Heart Charity was set up in January to honour the memory of Neil ‘Ginge’ Hussey and it aims to provide free heart screenings to detect undiagnosed heart conditions in adults and school children.

The Assistant Director of Customs & Excise died suddenly whilst he was out cycling from a heart condition he didn’t know he had. 

The charity has since organised a sponsored bike ride in memory of Neil which raised funds to sponsor heart screenings. 

Pictured: Islanders hit the pedals to raise money in memory of Neil Hussey earlier this year (Neil Hussey Heart Charity).

The Neil Hussey Heart Charity reflects on their very first year and looks ahead to 2019 for Express…

What was your key achievement in 2018?

What a buzzing, busy year for the Neil Hussey Heart Charity!

The charity aims to provide free heart screening to children to identify undiagnosed heart conditions. We target secondary schools, specifically children that are 15-17 years old as this is the optimum age for this type of testing.

Pictured: The charity is working to increase heart screenings amongst young people in Jersey so that heart conditions can be diagnosed early.

We have worked very hard this year to raise awareness and funds and as result, 50 children of Les Quennevais School were tested in November. 

What do you want to achieve in 2019? 

Our objective is to extend the testing to local sports clubs as well. For 2019, we aim to test more children and in order to achieve this, we welcome support from corporates and individuals. The long term goal is to test 1000 children a year, which is approximately the number of children that finish secondary school each year in Jersey. We are looking forward to the challenges that 2019 will bring.