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The Northern Echo's A Chance To Live campaign has reached a major milestone with the announcement that a multi-million pound scheme to expand a key North East heart unit is to go ahead.

When the revamped South Cleveland hospital is fully open in 2003, it will treat an extra 1,000 patients a year, enabling doctors to make huge inroads in tackling current waiting times.

The A Chance To Live campaign was launched in June, 1999, after the tragic death of Ian Weir, a 38-year-old father of two boys, and aims to have all heart by-pass patients seen as soon as possible by specialists.

Ian was the Northern Echo's deputy chief photographer and died of a second heart attack after waiting seven months for a hospital appointment. He died the day before he was due to see a consultant.

He was one of 14 distinguished North-East journalists were honoured when theirfamilies, friends and colleagues turned out in force to plant trees in theirmemory.

One of The Northern Echo's millennium projects last year was to helpestablish a community forest.

The project led to the paper winning a BT award of £500 at this year'sNorth-East Press Awards, at which The Northern Echo was also namedNorth-East Newspaper of the Year.

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