A Vespa
scooter will take centre stage at the Heart and Soul night organised by Andrew
Marshall, whose son Ethan died, aged three, from congenital heart disease in
2009.
The
event will be held tomorrow at the Irish Centre in Digbeth from 8pm till late
and will raise funds for Heart Research UK in the Midlands, a charity that
supports the prevention, treatment and cure of heart disease.
The
Heart and Soul evening is £6 entry, and tickets to win the scooter and other
prizes are £5 each.
Andrew
and his wife Julie have already raised nearly £12,000 for Heart Research UK in
Ethan’s memory – including funding for projects at Birmingham Children’s
Hospital – and they hope to raise further funds from tomorrow’s event and
another in September.
Andrew
said: “We wanted to increase awareness of congenital heart defects and to raise
funds for projects at Birmingham Children’s Hospital in memory of our son.
“My wife
Julie and I felt compelled to set up Ethan’s Gift as our way of supporting the
work of the cardiac unit. Working alongside Heart Research UK enables us to bring
our message to a wider audience and to see our fundraising go into supporting
bigger projects.”
Andrew,
who is a big Northern Soul fan, raises a lot of the money from his Heart and
Soul nights, with the events attracting around 200 people who enjoy Northern
Soul classics. Andrew is now combining his other passion, scooters, with the
nights.
As well
as the fully taxed and MoT’d scooter on the night there will be a raffle and a
great party atmosphere with five local DJs playing sets – including Andrew.
Barbara
Harpham, National Director at Heart Research UK, said: “We’re so grateful to
Andrew and his wife Julie for getting involved in fundraising and raising
awareness of heart disease, and it’s events like these that are so important
for raising funds into the prevention, treatment and cure of heart disease.
Andrew’s events have such a great atmosphere and it’s a really unique way to
raise money.”
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