Heart Kids

With a view to helping people in need within the local community, the Biggin & Scott Foundation was established in June 2001.

With every sale or lease at Biggin & Scott, a percentage is donated to the Biggin & Scott Foundation to generate funds for various charities within the local community.

Funds from the Biggin & Scott Foundation are administered and distributed by the Melbourne Community Foundation. e Melbourne Community Foundation is a non-profit organisation supporting a number of charities facing financial, employment, health and various other challenges. It exists to provide the most e ective use of funds, so that we can make a real difference in the community.

So when you sell or lease your property with Biggin & Scott, you’ll also be helping your local community. Heartkids Victoria HeartKids is a support group for families of children with heart disease, be it congenital (born with) or acquired. We started as voluntary group of parents and individuals dealing with and concerned about the day to day realities of raising and caring for children with cardiac conditions, and sometimes dealing with the loss of a child due to their congenital heart defect. We have grown to an organisation of some strength with a presence in almost every state of Australia, as well as a National body – HeartKids Australia.

Our members wish to offer their support to other families who are in crisis, providing opportunities to share common anxieties and challenges. We arrange, where possible, to meet with other families affected by the impact of life with a child with a cardiac condition and to create a ‘network of support’ for all families.

Over the years, HeartKids Victoria including Tasmania, with the help of members, sponsors and friends, has been able to help out the children’s hospitals by way of donations of money, equipment and research grants.

HeartKids has several regional representatives who offer their time to arrange coffee mornings and special activities in order to support families with a child with congenital heart disease. Telephone support is also offered. Our aim in this area is to ensure that parents aren’t struggling alone.

HeartKids produce seasonal newsletters which update and inform our members on patient progress, special ‘heart family’ activities, government policy, information of relevance, upcoming events and much much more. HeartKids news keeps our geographically diverse membership aware and ‘close’.

HeartKids can assist with information about your hospital stay, for example information on available accommodation, meals, transport and parking. We can also assist with information on the availability of certain hospital services such as social workers, occupational therapists, and speech pathologists.

Most valuable to our families during the crucial time of surgery are our Family Support Coordinators in Victoria and our Branch Coordinators in Tasmania. These coordinators are ‘heart mums’ and understand more than most what families are experiencing during the often tension filled hospital stays.

As well as offering support to families, HeartKids aims to increase awareness in the general community and corporate sector about the high incidence of congenital heart defects and its ongoing consequences.