Without our donors, supporters, advocates and volunteers we would not have survived this year – thank you.

The COVID-19 pandemic has made 2020 a year that most of us just want to forget.

More than 2,000 lives have been lost, thousands more have been ill and people living with cardiovascular disease have been one of the groups most hardest hit.

We know that serious heart disease was the most common underlying condition in patients admitted to ICU with COVID-19, and that the fear of contracting the virus has meant that many people have avoided seeking help when they experienced heart symptoms such as chest pain or stroke putting them at increased risk of more severe illness.

Throughout 2020 the Irish Heart Foundation’s main focus was to ensure that stroke survivors and people living with heart disease, and their carers knew that they were not alone. With your help we have been able to do that, so thank you.

When COVID-19 paralysed the world in March, we moved all our support groups online. We also developed new support services for patients who were recently discharged from hospital. People like 34-year-old Enda McDermott from Donegal, who suffered his second stroke at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Enda said that for him the Irish Heart Foundation’s new support service had been “a life-line”.

Like most charities our income was severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and without our donors, supporters, advocates and volunteers we would not have survived this year.

So, we wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Our Heart Support Network coordinator Lucinda is particularly grateful for all your support. “The arrival of Covid-19 showed what we could do together as a heart community. Yes, we had to cocoon, yes, we had to experience times of fear, loneliness, anger and sadness but yes did we support each other. The Heart Support Network is made up of a 1,000 people with one objective – to be there for each other.

“To give information when needed, to listen, to share, to be upset and also to laugh. It is a place of inspiration, honesty, compassion and friendship. A lot of us have not met each other physically but we feel we know each other so well. We move into Christmas time, again yes a different one but one that we will do together.”

Wishing you all a peaceful, safe and happy Christmas from all our hearts to yours.