Healing Little Hearts

What Healing Little Hearts does

Healing Little Hearts is a UK-registered children's charity (Charity Number 1130194, registered in England and Wales) that provides free pediatric cardiac surgery — specifically open heart surgery and interventional cardiac catheterisation — to babies and children with congenital heart disease (CHD) in developing countries. The organization was founded by Dr. Sanjiv Nichani, a pediatric intensivist who previously developed the children's intensive care service at Leicester Hospitals, and is led clinically by Lead Surgeon Dr. Ramana Dhannapuneni (Alder Hey Children's Hospital) and Lead Nurse/Trustee Lesley Mistry MBE. The charity operates an event-driven go-to-market model: volunteer medical teams from UK hospitals travel to partner hospitals across 25 countries to conduct surgical 'camps,' with repeat visits to the same sites (e.g., Windhoek Central, MP Shah Nairobi, Shahid Gangalal Kathmandu, Andhra Hospital, An-Najah Nablus, UCH Ibadan) building long-term clinical capacity.

The underlying technology is the surgical delivery itself rather than a software platform; the digital stack is a WordPress-based donation and event ticketing site (healinglittlehearts.org) augmented by Facebook Fundraising, Amazon Smile, and physical collection boxes. Logistics for staff travel are partially underwritten by partner charity Flying Angels. The organization has completed 291 surgical camps, 3,985 cardiac procedures, and 431 general surgical procedures (the latter under sister program 'Healing Little Children'), and plans 12 camps in the current year. There is no disclosed AI/ML capability, no app, and no API surface.

Revenue is generated entirely through philanthropy: individual donations (with Gift Aid for UK taxpayers), corporate sponsorships, foundation grants (notably Edith Murphy Foundation, Randal Charitable Foundation, Mukul Madhav Foundation), corporate partnerships (Sodexo, Tatti Lashes), community fundraising (Team 1C, RDD Ladies Germany), event ticketing (Little Hearts Ball at Titanic Hotel Liverpool at £80/ticket), and in-kind volunteer medical labor. The organization publicly cites a £500 cost-to-save-a-child's-life metric. Royal recognition (OBE for founder 2022; MBE for Lead Nurse 2026) provides brand credibility.

Name

Healing Little Hearts

Legal name

Healing Little Hearts

Website

https://healinglittlehearts.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

UK-registered children's charity (No. 1130194) that delivers free pediatric open-heart surgery and cardiac catheterisation to children with congenital heart disease in 25 developing countries via volunteer-led surgical camps at partner hospitals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Pediatric Cardiac Surgery Charity Services

NAICS

Voluntary Health Organizations (813212), Emergency and Other Relief Services (624230)

SIC

Services-Misc Health & Allied Services, Nec (8090)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYHLAJAKAE

Humanitarian Health & Emergency Medical Relief NGOs

Healthcare & Life Sciences/Public Health, Government & Regulators/Global Health & Development Agencies (NGOs/Multilaterals)

Keywords

• Pediatric cardiac surgery
• Congenital heart disease
• Medical charity services
• Volunteer surgical camps
• Cardiac catheterisation charity

Headquarters

HQ city

Leicester

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations: The primary revenue stream comes from donations from individuals, corporations, and foundations. Donations can be made through the website, Facebook fundraising, Amazon Smile, and collection boxes placed in businesses and homes.
2. Event Ticketing: Revenue generated from ticket sales for fundraising events such as the annual Little Hearts Ball held at venues like the Titanic Hotel in Liverpool.
3. Volunteer Contributions: Medical professionals volunteer their time and skills, providing the surgical expertise at no cost. This is a form of in-kind contribution that enables the charity to operate camps.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Healing Little Hearts is a UK-based registered children's charity that provides free pediatric cardiac surgery, including open heart surgery and interventional cardiac catheterisation, to babies and children with congenital heart disease in developing countries. Surgical care is delivered through volunteer-led medical camps held at partner hospitals across 25 countries, funded entirely by donations, corporate sponsorships, and fundraising events. The charity also trains and supports local medical teams at partner hospitals during each camp visit.

Product overview

Healing Little Hearts is a UK-based children's charity that operates a charity-donation platform and medical service program. The core offering consists of providing free heart surgery to children in developing countries, facilitated through an online donation system, merchandise sales (tickets and collection boxes), and volunteer/sponsorship programs. The digital platform enables donors to make contributions via the website with gift aid options, while the operational side runs medical camps in 25 countries performing cardiac procedures.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Healing Little Children: A sister program for general pediatric surgical procedures beyond cardiac care

Products and services

• Free Heart Surgery Program Provides free open heart surgery and interventional cardiac catheterisation to babies and children with congenital heart disease in developing countries, delivered through volunteer-led surgical camps at partner hospitals across 25 countries.
• Online Donation
• Little Hearts Ball Tickets
• Collection Boxes

Quantifiable outcome

• 3985 cardiac procedures completed to date
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered supporting and core.

• SodexosupportingOthersSodexo Health and Care designs and delivers facilities management services, helping healthcare providers create positive patient experiences, improve patient flow, and promote wellbeing of staff and communities.
• Flying AngelscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCharity specializing in using air travel to get healthcare to children. They fly children to treatment, provide care on flights, and fund air ambulance trips. For HLH, Flying Angels fund return flights for staff to reach camps.
• Port Louis Cardiac Surgery CentrecoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerPartner hospital in Port Louis, Mauritius where Healing Little Hearts conducts surgical camps.
• Windhoek Central HospitalcoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerPartner hospital in Windhoek, Namibia where Healing Little Hearts conducts regular surgical camps.
• MP Shah HospitalcoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerPartner hospital in Nairobi, Kenya where Healing Little Hearts conducts regular surgical camps.
• An-Najah University HospitalcoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerPartner hospital in Nablus, Palestine where Healing Little Hearts conducts surgical camps.
• University College Hospital IbadancoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerPartner teaching hospital in Ibadan, Nigeria where Healing Little Hearts conducts regular surgical camps.
• Shahid Gangalal National Heart CentrecoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerPartner hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal where Healing Little Hearts conducts surgical camps.
• Andhra HospitalcoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerPartner multispeciality hospital in Vijayawada, India where Healing Little Hearts conducts regular surgical camps.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders): Largest global medical humanitarian NGO, providing emergency medical care including surgery in conflict and low-resource settings. Comparable delivery model (deploying medical teams internationally) and overlapping beneficiary population, though MSF operates at vastly greater scale and scope.
• Project HOPE: Major global health and humanitarian NGO delivering health services, training, and medical aid in low-resource countries. Overlaps with HLH on international medical service delivery but operates a much broader mandate including non-communicable disease, infectious disease, and health systems strengthening.
• Samaritan's Purse / World Medical Mission: Large US-based Christian humanitarian organization with a World Medical Mission program that places volunteer medical professionals in hospitals worldwide. Overlapping model of deploying medical volunteers to under-resourced settings, but at materially larger organizational scale.

Regional players

• Team 1C: UK-based parent-led charity that funds pediatric heart operations in developing countries, directly inspired by and supporting Healing Little Hearts' lead surgeon. Operates as a fundraising peer raising money for the same procedure category and patient population.

Direct peers

• Mending Kids International: US-based nonprofit that funds and sends volunteer medical teams abroad to perform life-changing surgeries on children, including cardiac procedures. Comparable volunteer-driven, donation-funded surgical mission model.
• Chain of Hope: UK-based charity that provides pediatric cardiac surgery and treatment to children in developing countries through volunteer medical teams and partner hospitals. Operates a near-identical camp-based delivery model to Healing Little Hearts.
• Children's HeartLink: US-headquartered nonprofit focused on training and supporting pediatric cardiac teams in developing countries. Comparable mission, target patient population (children with CHD in low-resource settings), and partner-hospital operating model.
• Gift of Life International: Rotary-affiliated nonprofit that funds and coordinates pediatric cardiac surgery for children in emerging countries. Directly comparable target beneficiary (children with CHD unable to access treatment) and international camp-based delivery.
• CardioStart International: US-based nonprofit that organizes volunteer medical teams to provide cardiac surgery and training in developing countries. Closely comparable target procedures (open heart surgery, catheterisation) and volunteer-driven pediatric cardiac model.
• Open Heart International: Australia-based humanitarian program that sends volunteer cardiac surgical teams to developing countries to perform open heart surgery on children and adults. Near-identical volunteer-driven pediatric cardiac surgery delivery model.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/HLHcharity
• Facebookfacebook.com/HLHcharity
• Instagraminstagram.com/healinglittlehearts

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Healing Little Hearts