The Northwich charity saving young people's lives

The Aaron Dixon Memorial Fund has 16 of these screening days planned for 2023, which will cost £96,000, and ten days in 2024 costing £60,000.

Twelve young people lose their lives every week to undetected heart defects but these could be picked up during a quick and painless heart screening, which isn't provided on the NHS.

The screening days are funded by the Northwich charity, which was set up in memory of Aaron Dixon, who was just 23 when he died suddenly on September 4, 2011.

He had an arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy – a genetic heart defect.

Aaron Dixon

His mum Deborah Dixon has raised £440,000 over the past 11 years which has paid for 4,804 young adults to be screened with 168 being referred.

The Aaron Dixon Memorial Fund has been chosen as Northwich’s representative in the Northwich and Winsford Guardian’s Cash for Charities campaign.

The Gannett Foundation, which is our parent company’s charitable arm, is giving away £128,000 to support local charities across the country and we have a £16,000 share to distribute across the north west.

Over the next two weeks, you are invited to collect tokens printed inside the paper which can then be sent to collection points across the area or posted in to us.

Each token collected will be used to allocate the cash to the nominated charity – so if The Aaron Dixon Memorial Fund collects 50 per cent of all tokens collected it will receive 50 per cent of the £16,000.

Any money that the Northwich charity receives will go towards funding the scheduled screening days in Northwich throughout 2023 and 2024.

Michael Seery and Woody Al-Zidgali, two of Aaron's closest friends ready for the CRY sky dive

Deborah said: “How, as a parent, did I not know that 12 young people were losing their lives every single week to an undetected heart defect?

“Something as simple as an ECG can detect these defects and this is what started me on my fundraising journey.

“I was going through every parent’s worst nightmare – the loss of a child – but I had to do something to stop this happening to other young people and that was to offer free heart screening to all young adults.”

Fundraising events for The Aaron Dixon Memorial Fund have included a Guinness World Record boxing attempt, CRY (Cardiac Risk in the Young) charity ball and a Paris to Barcelona bike ride as well as volunteers completing the London Marathon, the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge and Ironman events.

Deborah Dixon and Sam Stafford at The CRY Charity Race Night at Vale Royal Abbey Arms

Deborah added: “The biggest fundraising event held in Aaron’s memory was a skydive which my husband Gary, best friend Becky Knight and Aaron’s friends took part in, which raised more than £20,000.”

To get this week’s token turn to page 8 and the deadline for votes is Sunday, November 20.

You can post your tokens or drop them off at collection points which are located at the following places:

• Vale Royal Abbey Arms, Chester Road, Northwich, CW8 2HB

• Fresh Floral Design, 289 Chester Road, Hartford, CW8 1QL

• The Cutting Lounge, 228 London Road, Northwich, CW9 8AQ

• Willowgreen Home & Gifts, 463 London Road, Davenham, CW9 8NA

• Greenwood Lighting, 59 Mere Lane, Sandiway, CW8 2NR

• Premier Stores Cuddington, 109-113 Norley Road, Cuddington, CW8 2LE

• Tesco Extra Superstore, Manchester Road, Northwich, CW9 5LY

• Sainsbury’s, Venables Road, Northwich, CW9 5RT

• Waitrose, 22 London Road, Northwich, CW9 5HD