Following TTM’s support of North East charity Hearts With Goals, our MD Lesley and Manager Mickaela went on to attend a St John’s Ambulance first aid course which lead to the purchase of a defibrillator for our office to keep our workforce safe. We speak to co-founder of the charity, Christine Stephenson, to find out more about the amazing work that they do…
Tell us about the work that Hearts With Goals does:
North East Hearts with Goals was set up 6 years ago in response to finding out my nephew, Will had a serious heart condition and it put him as high-risk cardiac arrest. We lost his Dad to the same condition when he was just 32 and couldn’t take any chances.
We, myself and Kelly my sister in law quickly established that the only thing that can help save your life when cardiac arrest strikes is having a defibrillator close at hand and someone administering CPR. We decided to place as many as we could and increase the public’s knowledge about the importance of CPR and defibrillation. 
TTM are very proud to work with you. Tell us about the benefits of having a defibrillator in our workplace/building:
We have placed around 450 defibrillators around the North East and have contributed to saving 9 lives that we know of. It is crucial we see these machines as often as we see fire extinguishers. So many cardiac arrests happen within the workplace it is great to see TTM being so proactive and safeguarding their own staff and visitors by installing a defibrillator.
How can individuals help Hearts With Goals?
You can help us in many ways by donating via our website www.nehwg.co.uk, holding a sponsored event or coffee morning, having a clear out and donating your cast offs to Enviroclothes for Hearts with Goals, making us your charity of the year, sharing our posts or volunteering some time to help with hands on events like bag packs.
Do you have any future plans for Hearts With Goals?
Going forward the charity is still focussed on defibrillators but now we have a mobile heart screening unit which we want to continue to push forward with and find these conditions before cardiac arrest strikes.
For more information visit Hearts With Goals website.