Walk from the Heart
View(s):Students of Gateway College Colombo will be organising a ‘Walk from the Heart’ on Saturday, July 25th, to raise awareness of children’s heart disease and to support the on-going projects of the Children’s Heart Project which works with the Lady Ridgeway Hospital to improve the services available to children with heart problems. The walk will start from Lady Ridgeway Hospital and end in the school premises in Rajagiriya. ‘Walk from the Heart’ is the principal community service to be carried out by Gateway College this year, and the school has encouraged students to create banners, placards and posters to be used during the walk to raise awareness about children’s heart disease and has given each class a target to raise funds for the support of the Children’s Heart Project. There will be rewards by the school for classes that raise the highest contribution and make the biggest impact!
The Children’s Heart Project was set up by private individuals, to help save Sri Lankan children with heart diseases. It is a registered charity approved by the Government of Sri Lanka, incorporated in 1993. The project’s aim is to increase the number of successful children’s heart operations performed annually, and ultimately to eliminate the long waiting list. The Project supports the cardiac programme of the Lady Ridgeway Hospital, which is the only tertiary care referral centre for such children in Sri Lanka. Patients come to the cardiac centre from far off places such as Walapane or Polonnaruwa, and are treated completely free of charge. The project has provided financial support to construct and refurbish certain areas of the cardiac complex and purchase equipment and consumables whenever they are needed. More information about the project is available on http://www.childrensheartproject.lk/index.html