Staff at a leading art institution have been raising money for charity in support of their manager after her partner died suddenly aged just 30.

Workers at the Royal Academy of Arts have been fundraising for senior sponsorship manager Natalie Bone, from Walthamstow, after her partner Robin Allum-Cornforth died from a heart attack in April.

Wanting to support ambulance staff who tried to save Robin’s life, his partner, Natalie, also 30, has already collected more than £1,000 for The Ambulance Staff Charity (TASC) through donations on and offline.

She said: “Robin died of advanced coronary heart disease but he had no symptoms so we had no warning whatsoever that he had this condition. It was all a huge shock.

“He just woke me up in the middle of the night and said he was having trouble breathing. I immediately called for an ambulance and they were there in about four minutes.

“But in the intervening period he collapsed. It was really, really quick.

“While one paramedic was working on Robin they also called for help, so about six of them were working on him to stabilise him before they could take him to St Bartholomew’s Hospital.

“He’d gone into cardiac arrest so they were shocking him and also giving him CPR.”

TASC offers support to current and former ambulance crews and their families during times of need.

Natalie added: “They were incredible and never gave up on him. They were working on Robin for about two hours and were very calm and collected throughout and also calmed me down.

“It got me thinking that had Robin survived, he would have recognised all of the hard work that the paramedics gave to him that night, so we were really happy to support TASC and the work that it does.

“I personally felt it very important to support the charity given the overwhelming help that the ambulance service provided to Robin and I on the night he passed away.”

To view Natalie’s fundraising page, visit: justgiving.com/fundraising/robin-allum-cornforth.