Breath of Life Campaigns

Current Campaigns

If you would like to make a donation towards a particular campaign or to our work in general, the please visit our donations page where you can make a contribution online or by post.

Sleep monitors

Breath of Life is looking to purchase two monitors used to diagnose sleep related breathing disorders.  This equipment fulfils our aim of providing respiratory equipment that helps people to be treated at home rather than in hospital.

Sleep Apnoea is one such disorder where the suffer stops breathing at regular intervals during the night. It is a largely unseen condition, but it has a dramatic impact on the quality of people’s lives and relationships at home. These conditions can then be effectively treated, often at home, greatly improving quality of life, helping reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and other co-morbidities.

Lung Cancer Research

Lung cancer kills over 30,000 people every year in the UK, more fatalities than any other cause of cancer. It is strongly associated with smoking, although a significant proportion of people with lung cancer have never smoked.

Breath of Life is working to support unique research being undertaken at the Cancer Centre of the University Hospital of North Staffordshire. The research aims to measure chemical markers of lung cancer within the breath of patients with lung tumours. The research has already shown that there are detectable chemical changes in cancer cells and it trying to turn this into a usable tool so that people can be screened and lung cancer detected at an early stage. The earlier that lung cancer is detected the better the chances of a positive outcome. This research could be one step towards saving many lives locally and abroad.

Breath of Life is currently looking for funding to support the purchase of key equipment and to pay for a postgraduate research assistant.

Baby Breathing Monitors

Breath of life has purchased much equipment to monitor the breathing of babies and help prevent cot deaths. We have recently purchased an innovative new monitor that measures a range of physiological parameters. This equipment will be used in a clinical environment, but it also provides the possibility of monitoring vital signs at home, allowing parents to have greater confidence in taking children with breathing problems home. This equipment will allow people to live as a family unit.

Cystic Fibrosis

Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is a severe inherited disease affecting the respiratory and digestive systems. CF patients need daily physiotherapy and exercise to alleviate the abnormal production of thick mucus that clogs up their lungs. The susceptibility of CF patients to certain infections means that they have to be treated for long periods in a special isolation ward.

Breath of Life will take an active role in supporting the development of new facilities in the area, including things that make life in hospital a little more pleasant and comfortable for young adults with CF.

Currently Breath of Life is also funding gym places for some young adults, where regular exercise greatly enhances their physical and psychological wellbeing.

Past Campaigns

None of this would have been possible without the generous support of all those who have contributed by raising funds, organising events, making donations or giving of their time.  We thank them all for helping so much in helping to relieve the suffering of people who have problems with the lungs.