If you can join us at this year’s CRY Heart of London Bridges walk, we would love to see you.
The event takes place on Sunday, June 22, and you don’t have to raise money. Just by taking part you help to raise awareness that we are still losing 12 young people aged between 14-35 every week to undiagnosed heart conditions.
You can read about the walk and register here. We hope to see you there.
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Ninety-seven young people were tested by CRY at Trailfinders Sports Club in Ealing on Sunday, 2 February.
The free event takes the total number of young people aged 14-35 tested by Tom and Claire’s Fund to more than 3,300 since our first screening in 2009. That’s only possible because of the generosity of those who have supported us and donated over so many years. Thank you.
We are very grateful to the CRY team, who were as lovely and professional as ever, and to the staff of Trailfinders, who once again made us feel so welcome.
A film crew also attended the screenings and it seems CRY might appear on BBC Breakfast this week in a feature about Heart Month 2025. One to set the record button for.
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Kavi Luchowa raised more than three times his target amount for CRY when running in memory of Tom at the Ealing Half-Marathon.
Having aimed to raise £300, Kavi’s total currently stands at more than £1,000. There’s also the promise of more to come with his employer, Smartodds, having said they will match the amount raised up to £1,000.
Kavi, a friend and teammate of Tom’s when they played together for Hanwell Town, said: “It was really great to take part and the support of the crowd and volunteers on the way around was incredible.
“It was topped off by raising a lot more than I expected – I will definitely be running again next year despite my legs being in pain!”
Two of Kavi’s sisters, Tara and Surya, also took part to raise awareness for CRY.
Ellen Clabburn said: “It was a fantastic atmosphere and I managed to spot Kavi in the last mile as he sped past. He did brilliantly and didn’t even seem to be out of breath at the end!
“We’re so grateful to Kavi and his sisters for taking part and promoting CRY, it’s a wonderful effort.”
Kavi’s fund-raising page is still open here.
#cardiacriskintheyoung #12aweek #ealinghalfmarathon #ealingfeeling #london
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This year’s Cardiac Risk in the Young Heart of London Bridges Walk takes place on Sunday, 23rd June, 2024.
The event starts in Southwark Park and passes twelve London landmarks along its route, highlighting the twelve young people who die every week from Sudden Cardiac Death.
Full details and how to sign up are here.
It’ll be the seventeenth year Team Tom has walked and we would love to see you there. You don’t have to raise money to take part, raising awareness is just as important!
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Two sides of CRY featured over a couple of days in late April – the London Marathon and the “One Voice, Many Hearts” round table at Westminster.
Firstly, huge thanks to Jane Kinghorn for having the motivation and resilience to complete the marathon in memory of Claire. Jane teamed up with Stephanie Marshall and, at time of writing, the pair had raised more than £6,700 for CRY funds, more than double the amount they aimed for. Thanks to everyone who supported them.
Secondly, Hilary Nicholls found strength of a different kind to set up a round table in parliament less than a year after losing her 20-year-old daughter, Clarissa, to an undiagnosed cardiac condition.
The event, hosted by Carolyn Harris MP, who lost a child of her own in a road accident, brought together those interested in trying to reduce the incidence of Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD) in Britain. As Ms Harris pointed out, parliamentarians were more likely to listen if those arguing the case spoke with one voice on the issue. There’s not a competition between more screening or extra defibrillators or increased CPR training. All are needed to save the maximum number of lives.
The event concluded with open questions to a panel including CRY’s Chief Executive, Dr Steve Cox. Many CRY families were at the event and their stories were harrowing. It was good to see a large number of MPs dropping by to listen to the discussion, including mine, Ruth Cadbury.
It is appalling that, so many years after Tom’s death, young lives, like Clarissa’s, are still being lost. I can only hope that events such as this will help to bring closer a day when losing more than six hundred young people a year to cardiac conditions that are largely treatable is no longer acceptable.
