How Newcastle Hospitals Charity supports Organ Donation services

Above: The LEGO heart, created by LEGO architect Steve Mayes (Brick This)

We are very proud to have partnered with Eldon Square and Brick This for A LEGO Heart is just the Start, an art installation and workshop series that took place in February 2023 at Eldon Square, to raise awareness of organ donation and the pioneering work of the Freeman Hospital, Newcastle.

The LEGO heart is now on display at the Institute of Transplantation at the Freeman Hospital.

We are the official charity for Newcastle Hospitals and support staff, patients and the wider community of the hospitals. If you want to learn more about our work, you can:

Or you can make a donation to Newcastle Hospitals Charity. Every pound donated helps us to continue our work to support the staff, patients and community of Newcastle Hospitals.

Supporting Organ Donation

Newcastle is known for excellence in its organ donation services at the Institute of Transplantation and the charity has often supported this service with grant funding for ambitious and innovative projects. Recent examples have included:

❤️ ANRP Machine

We made a grant of £74,345 to fund a cutting-edge Abdominal Normothermic Regional Perfusion (ANRP) machine. This machine, one of the first in the UK, restores circulation to abdominal organs, helping to keep them viable between donor and recipient. This leads to an increase in successful organ transplantation and a reduction in complications after surgery.

So far, this machine has allowed the team at Newcastle Hospitals to perform six transformative transplant surgeries with organs that may not otherwise have been viable, changing lives.

Above: Operating Department Practioner Josh Arrowsmith (L) and Consultant Transplant Surgeon Aimen Amer (R) with the ANRP Machine at Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital

❤️ Heart and Lung Transplant website

We made a grant of £75,000 to fund a new eLearning website, created for heart and lung transplant candidates at the Freeman Hospital. This interactive site aims to transform the patient experience – providing advice, support, and information, before, during and after surgery, as well as testimonials from NHS staff and former patients, to help reassure and educate patients.

Above (L-R): Hazel Muse, Kirstie Wallace (Heart Transplant Co-ordinators), Teri Bayliss (Charity Director, Newcastle Hospitals Charity), Professor Jamie Steane (Northumbria University School of Design)

Future projects also include funding the creation of realistic simulation hearts, so that future transplant surgeons can hone their incredible skills..