HE’S the new face of a Hampshire heart charity and already has ambitious plans for the future of the county’s cardiac services.

John Munro has become the chief executive of Wessex Heartbeat, which supports heart patients from across the south.

The 53-year-old from Milford-on-Sea has taken over from Alison Farrell who left at the end of last month.

And he is already planning to launch two major fundraising campaigns to bring even more world class cardiac facilities to Southampton General Hospital.

This summer he will begin fundraising to create a special out-patient ward at the hospital to speed up the process for patients who need coronary angiography, an operation used to help diagnose heart conditions, carry out certain procedures and help plan future treatments.

Then next winter a huge fundraising drive expected to be worth £1m will begin to create a special high tech heart failure centre. The service will be the only one of its kind in the UK and will improve all aspects of care for people with heart failure, from prevention to better diagnosis all the way through to palliative care.

John's first job was in the Royal Navy, where he spent 18 years. But he began working in the charity sector after losing his wife Debbie to bowel cancer aged 44.

The dad-of-six, who is originally from Ayrshire in Scotland, has since worked for Cancer Research UK, Sue Ryder Care, Honeypot Children's Charity and most recently he was the fundraising manager for Salisbury Hospice.

Wessex Heartbeat is a cause close to John's heart after he lost his dad, also called John Munro, to heart disease 35-years-ago aged 51.

John said: “I have been in the charity sector for the last 13 years. I got involved for personal reasons. I lost my first wife to cancer.

“I really enjoy being in the charity sector. I love the way it works and I'm humbled by it because people are giving you money for something that is not a tangible product.

“I just couldn't think of a better job because every day is different, every day is diverse and every day is challenging.

“When the CEO position came up here it was a perfect fit with my skills and experience to drive the charity. Also, my father died of heart disease when he was 51.

“I think you do have to be touched by a certain cause to be effective working for it. It makes you sensitive to people as well.”

For more information about the charity, visit: heartbeat.co.uk.