CAMPAIGNERS gave themselves seven days to raise the £75,000 to create a colourful haven for youngsters at a pioneering heart unit.

Yet thanks to the generosity of people and businesses in the North East, that huge target has been smashed, less than 24 hours after work began.

The Journal revealed on Wednesday that multi-millionaire Graham Wylie had donated £38,500 to a project spearheaded by Metro Radio’s Cash for Kids charity, which aims to create a special sensory room at the Freeman Hospital’s Children’s Heart Unit.

That was more than half the cash needed for the project, which began in earnest two days after Metro Radio first put a call out for donations.

Mr Wylie’s 23-month-old daughter Kiera has spent a lot of time in the heart unit, having been diagnosed with a complex heart condition when she was still in her mother Andrea’s womb.

Kiera, who has a twin sister Zahra, has already undergone three operations and is now awaiting a fourth operation which will hopefully correct the condition once and for all.

Mr Wylie has donated or helped to raise in excess of £275,000 for the Children’s Heart Unit Fund (CHUF) over the last year, a total added to by the £38,500 he ploughed into the new project.

And he is delighted that so many others have followed his lead.

He said: “Dan Smith at Metro Radio Cash for Kids has pulled together a brilliant project and achieving the target of £75,000 to build the sensory room for CHUF within three days is outstanding.

“It’s heartwarming to see how the North East people, businesses and media have come together to highlight this project.

“All the staff and parents that I talked to at the Children’s Heart Unit were delighted and very grateful.” Developers Gentoo are currently working on the sensory room – the former children’s play area alongside the heart unit on Ward 23.

It will be transformed into a colourful zone with cushioned walls, interactive pod-style seats, laser projections, bubble tubes and revolving mirrors.

Dan Smith of Metro Radio says the fundraising call will continue, despite hitting the target, with all extra money raised going towards CHUF to fund other equipment and services.

He added: “We have reached our target thanks to the generosity of the North East people and businesses, especially Procter & Gamble donating more than£20,000 and Graham Wylie £38,500.

“So many of our amazing listeners have stepped in.

“It is hard to know where to start with all the thanks.”