Funding the fight against heart disease
How you make a difference
Schools and families around Australia are leading the way in the fight against heart disease.
Your generous support helps to educate people and fund research to better prevent and manage heart disease into the future. You help by:
- Funding high-impact research
- Working to improve heart disease prevention, detection, care and support
- Advocating to governments and industry for increased funding and resources for heart health
- Building community awareness about living a heart-healthy lifestyle. We do this through public health awareness campaigns, accessible information and resources
- Supporting health professionals in their work to prevent, diagnose, treat and manage heart disease.
Meet Axel
For Axel, skipping is more than just schoolyard fun, it’s a way to honour his baby brother, Tanner. Tanner was born with a serious heart condition and passed away after only three weeks. That loss changed Axel’s world and made heart health a deeply personal cause for his family.
Now, Axel is giving back by actively participating in the Jump Rope for Heart program at his school. In his second year of the program, Axel’s determined to keep mastering new tricks and putting his heart and soul into helping others.
Join Axel in raising money to help funds life-saving research that has the power to save hearts in Australia.
“Jump Rope for Heart encourages kids to think about doing things for others from a very young age.
It’s about helping other people.”
– Amy, Axel's mum
Meet Ayla
Celebrating the arrival of a newborn should be full of joy, but for Taryn and Michael, the early days of their daughter’s life were marked by unexpected challenges.
A mere three days after Ayla’s birth, doctors uncovered a congenital heart condition, revealing a series of holes in her heart that required urgent open-heart surgery just five days into her young life.
Ayla gave back by actively participating in the Jump Rope for Heart Program at her school, Beaconhills College. Ayla embarked on this journey in her very first year of primary school, where she not only honed her skipping skills and learned captivating tricks but gained valuable knowledge about heart health.
“It was an incredibly tough journey, but we are forever grateful to initiatives like Jump Rope for Heart. Without heart research we wouldn’t have our little girl here today."
- Taryn, Ayla’s mum
Every dollar really makes a difference.
can cover the cost of basic tools that researchers need to grow heart cells, such as syringes, test tubes, and flasks.
can send free health information to more Australians who need help understanding their risk factors or heart condition.
could fund an ultrasound of a baby before birth to identify heart abnormalities.
Meet Abi
Australia’s second-highest individual fundraiser for 2020 was Abi P. This incredible five-year-old raised $8,532 in honour of her grandmother, Linda, who received a heart transplant 13 years ago.
Together with her friends and fellow students at Gundagai Public School in rural New South Wales, Abi learned that skipping is heaps of fun and a wonderful way to keep your heart healthy.
“Iris and I could not be more proud of Abi! We always knew she was a little champion, but to be putting in this much effort and raising so much money for the Heart Foundation in her first year at school is fantastic. Iris has also been working hard behind the scenes to support Abi’s skipping and fundraising efforts. It means a lot to our family, especially my mum.”
- Mark P, Abi's father
Meet our funded researchers
These funds raised through Jump Rope for Heart help support life-saving research that has the power to save hearts in Australia.
Unlocking the secrets of Australia’s most common birth defect
Dr Wiszniak is passionate about finding the causes of congenital heart disease and developing new treatments that could help so many babies and their families in the future.
Associate Professor Hayley Christian awarded AM for child health research
Associate Professor Christian has been instrumental in addressing the issue of many young children not meeting the Australian 24-hour Movement Guidelines for the Early Years.
Researcher Q& A with Dr Lauren Blekkenhorst, Heart Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Dr Blekkenhorst explores the health benefits of vegetables and finds new and improved ways to encourage people to eat more vegetables every day to improve their heart health.
