How it started

The charity was formed in 1986 when the NHS was unwilling to pay for heart transplants in the North West region. New Start raised £100,000 over the next 7 months which allowed the first 5 transplants to take place.

Despite the success of these operations NHS funding was still not forthcoming until a total of 10 transplants had taken place. New Start immediately set to work to raise another £100,000 by the autumn of 1987. The Department of Health then evaluated the success of the programme and agreed to take over the future funding of the transplant programme, however the funding would not commence until April 1989, a further 18 months. New Start proceeded to bridge the gap in funding and went on to support a further 40 transplants.

Now that transplants are funded by the NHS, the charity seeks to support and enhance the transplant unit by providing funds to accelerate the adoption of new procedures and funding of research which advances the technology surrounding transplantation.