Today Momuments, public buildings and iconic bridges across the North East will be bathed in red light – to pay tribute to the work of a leading heart charity.

The Red Sky Foundation – which has raised a huge amount of money to buy equipment for the children’s heart unit at Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital and to install defibrillators in public areas across the region – has set up Wear Red Day.

And it is hoped that the event will help support the Foundation’s campaign to raise awareness of congenital heart disease.

Sunderland’s Beacon of Light, The Empire Theatre and Tyneside’s Millennium Bridge are just some of the landmarks which will be turned red to support the event.

The charity, set up by Sunderland couple Sergio and Emma Petrucci to raise money as a thank you to the Freeman for saving their daughter Luna’s life, has gone from strength to strength.

Sergio Petrucci said:

We are keen to raise awareness and provide education and familiarisation sessions which will not only increase awareness in communities but also massively improve the chances of a person’s life being saved should someone suffer a cardiac arrest,

Every minute is critical and a trained person on the scene can be the difference between life and death.

Usually we would be holding our flagship dinner, The Red Sky Ball, at this time. That was the event that started everything off and we get 1000 people attending every year.

Unfortunately we have had to postpone it again but this is a way that everyone can show their support and help us celebrate the event virtually.

The charity also hopes that people will choose to wear something red on 26 February as a way of showing their support and has now organised an online version of its largest fund raising event of the year. They are also working in partnership with hospitals, local authorities, schools and communities across the region to install public access defibrillators along with teaching people how to administer CPR.