A charity which supports organ transplant patients and their families - set up more than three years ago by Keighley's Jo Hatton - has opened its first central office.

The Transplant Support Network was the brainchild of Jo and Phil Hatton - Jo died last summer, aged 45, after surviving 13 years with a new heart and lung. The network is now functioning from an office in the Keighley Disabled People's Centre in Temple Row, Keighley.

After its inception in 1995 the TSN operated from Phil and Jo's home in Oakworth Road, Keighley.

Mr Hatton is assisted by Chad Denby, who became administrative assistant last summer, and by lung transplant patient Adrian Asquith, 49, of Heaton Grove, Windhill, Shipley.

And they have won the patronage of retired kidney surgeon Ross Taylor, of Newcastle, who has written to every transplant unit about the network.

Adrian, who has taken on the role of fundraiser, had a new lung in the Freeman's Hospital, Newcastle, in 1997 after suffering emphysema believed to be caused by smoking.

Mr Hatton said he hoped the new central office would enable more contact to be made with patients and their families throughout the country.

He said: "Over the next 12 to 18 months I plan to visit every transplant unit in the country - about 55 of them - with an information pack about our work. We are hoping that, as a result, all the patients who go for assessment will have the opportunity of making contact with us.

"It will enable them to meet other people in a similar situation and share experiences and hopefully get emotional support."

The TSN has seven groups throughout the country and members have undergone courses on communication and listening skills.

He hoped there would be spin-offs from his visits to the transplant units which would help the organisation make contact with the hundreds of referral hospitals impossible for him to access.

Fundraising was a crucial factor because by June 2000 the network would lose its £15,000 a year Department of Health grant which it had received for three years. This was why it was now important to take a pro-active approach to the work of the network in a bid to get more support and possibly access funds, he added.

A major fundraiser for this year is a sponsored walk across Morecambe Bay on Sunday, June 20. Anyone wanting to take up the challenge should contact the TSN on 01535 692323.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.