Red Sky Foundation is a real example of how the smallest idea can grow to become something phenomenal and, more importantly, can make a life changing difference to so many people.
Our registered charity was born out of one simple wish, that couple Sergio and Emma Petrucci could give something back to the magnificent team at the Children’s Heart Unit at Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital.
This unit is nationally recognised and treats young people from across the UK every year – often making the difference between life and death to families.
Sergio and Emma were one of these families, who faced the trauma of their little girl, Luna, having to undergo life-saving heart surgery in 2015.
On the morning of the operation Sergio, looked out of his window and saw a sky filled with fire from the morning sunrise, vowing that if his daughter fully recovered he would support the unit in any way he could.
And he made good that promise – initially launching what he would believe would be a one off fundraising dinner, the Red Sky Ball, to buy vital equipment for the hospital.
Nobody could have anticipated the success of this event nor the £64,000 net it raised and the Red Sky Ball fast became the “go to” event on the North East social calendar, which now attracts over 1200 guests making it the largest charity dinner in the region.
The success of Red Sky Ball led to the creation of the annual White Party, again a hugely over subscribed daytime shindig which again raises masses amounts of money for a common goal – to help save lives.
Following the huge impact made on so many lives, on Friday 20th March 2020 as the UK was plunged into lockdown, the England & Wales Charity Commission awarded Sergio and Emma’s Red Sky with full registered charitable status and their Red Sky Ball changed its name to the Red Sky Foundation, allowing them to continue to grow their ambitions and its fund raising initiatives on a whole new level.
While we appreciate there are many, many good causes and only a finite amount of disposable money, becoming a corporate sponsor or supporter of the Red Sky Foundation is a way to give back, to save not just the lives of children but adults across the North East and the rest of the UK.
And what is more important than that?
What we’ve raised – and where it’s gone.
To date we’ve raised over an incredible £1 MILLION POUNDS to buy a variety of equipment and also provide facilities and after care at the Children’s Heart Unit at Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital, Sunderland Royal Hospital and the James Cook Hospital, Teesside.
We’ve also purchased a number of defibrillators available to thousands and work closely with schools, communities and city centres, so they can be used in those life or death moments when someone has a cardiac arrest and when time is of the essence.