TWENTY-SEVEN businesses have signed up to support Wessex Heartbeat in its most ambitious fundraising year yet.

Wessex Heartbeat has raised almost £16m for the cardiac unit at Southampton General Hospital since 1992, funding projects include the young adult cardiac centre and a £1 million refurbishment of the children’s ward.

This year it will set up a new cardiac day case unit and a Heartbeat health suite, as well as helping to educate hundreds of the region’s children on how to be ‘heart healthy’.

Twenty-one companies ranging from solicitors to insurers have each donated £3,000 to help fund the new projects, while six ‘headline’ sponsors will finance the charity’s major fundraising events during the year.

Wessex Heartbeat chief executive John Munro said: “By giving us their backing these companies are literally helping to save heart patients’ lives.

“In our anniversary year we are looking to develop a heart-failure service as heart failure is a huge problem which needs massive investment.

“We will also plough much-needed funds into cardiac rehabilitation to help heart patients get back to fitness and stay fit, by funding a state of the art Heartbeat Health Suite, which we hope to be based at the hospital.

“And through our continuing partnership with Life Lab at the University Hospital, we are going to continue with the pioneering research into how nutrition can improve the lifelong health of the region’s schoolchildren, so they do not become the heart patients of the future.”

Snows Motor Group Ltd (SMG) is a long-term supporter.

Stephen Snow, group chairman the firm said: “The Wessex Cardiac Unit saves thousands of lives each year and to know we are helping that work is hugely satisfying for us all.”