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SKIPPING FOR THEIR HEARTS

Scoil Na Fuiseoige Primary School has been learning how to skip for its hearts this week, thanks to a Heart Research UK and SUBWAY® Healthy Heart Grant of £10,000.

Saints Youth Centre, based in Twinbrook, Belfast has been awarded a Heart Research UK and SUBWAY® Healthy Heart Grant of £10,000 for its ‘Saints Saving Hearts’ programme.

This innovative project will encourage the young people of Twinbrook to get heart healthy through a variety of fun heart-focused activities. An eye catching mural has been designed and cooking sessions offered to young people at the centre.

In this third part of the project, the children have taken part in ‘Skip2BFit’ workshops using specially designed counting skipping ropes to incorporate numeracy whilst promoting fitness and healthy living.

The workshops aim to motivate and encourage children to live healthier and more active lifestyles, allowing them to take responsibility for their own heart health. Children and teachers took part in the unique ‘Skip2BFit’ two minute challenge to Rocky’s ‘Eye of the Tiger’, showing them how fun and easy skipping can be and what good exercise it is.

The schools taking part are St Colms High School, Scoil na Fuiseoige, St Lukes and St Marks.

Over 1000 children will take part in the ‘Skip2BFit’ workshops, where they will learn all about heart health and get their hearts beating faster in lively skipping sessions. The ‘Skip2BFit’ workshops also include a portion of anti-oxidant filled, blueberries, for each child taking part in the project.

Thanks to the Heart Research UK and SUBWAY® Healthy Heart Grant each school is given a Skip2BFit ‘Kitbag’ to allow the children to develop their skipping times as well as fitness and lifestyles.

The centre has been working with Scoil Na Fuiseoige Primary School as well as three other primary schools, in areas that are known for having high levels of health deprivation. All the children who have taken part in the workshops will be invited to Saints Youth Club’s ‘Skipping Challenge’ in which they will use their new knowledge and skills to skip for two minutes and hopefully beat their targets.

John McCormack, Skip2BFit Workshop Leader, says: “At Skip2BFit we passionately believe that skipping is one of the best exercises you can do as it gives you the fundamentals of all sports - balance, timing and footwork. Our ‘can do' philosophy is taught using our own specially designed skipping ropes which count the number of skips you do allowing all children to improve and achieve.”

Cherith McClay, Youth Support Worker at the Saints Youth Centre, says: “We are delighted to have received a HRUK and SUBWAY® Healthy Heart Grant to fund our ‘Saints Saving Hearts’ project. Not only will we be able to reach the young people who come to the centre regularly but by taking our ‘Skip2BFit’ programme into schools, we will be reaching children of all ages with the healthy heart message.”

Barbara Harpham, National Director at Heart Research UK, says: ““The ‘Saints Saving Hearts’ project would not have been possible if it wasn’t for the support of the SUBWAY® staff and customers in Northern Ireland. This programme is a creative way to get children interested in heart health, especially the ‘Skip2BFit’ workshop. If we encourage children at an early age to be active and eat healthily, we are giving them the tools to lead healthier, happier and longer lives.”

Manaaz Akhtar, Head of Marketing for the SUBWAY® brand in the UK and Ireland, says: “The SUBWAY® brand is delighted that through the partnership with Heart Research UK, the HRUK and SUBWAY® Healthy Heart Grant programme is available. SUBWAY® stores in Northern Ireland have enjoyed fundraising, and it’s great to see initiatives such as this come to fruition as a result of the money generously donated by our customers in store.”

TOWER HAMLETS GETS HELP TO LOOK AFTER ITS HEARTS

School children at Bigland Green Primary School in Tower Hamlets are being inspired to live heart-healthier lifestyles thanks to a £9,300 grant from national charity, Heart Research UK.

The healthy heart message is being spread to residents in Tower Hamlets through the ‘In a Heart Beat’ programme, being run by Centre of the Cell, an award-winning science centre in Tower Hamlets.

The school children have been involved in the ‘In a Heart Beat’ workshops, learning about their amazing hearts and how they work, through the use of ‘pumping heart’ models and ‘lab-books’. The children also experimented by taking their resting and working heart rates, and learning how and why their heart rates change during exercise. They explored the function of the heart, Coronary Heart Disease and its risk factors, and the negative impact of specific lifestyle choices, such as smoking, chewing tobacco and poor diet.

The Tower Hamlets area, which has a high proportion of BME residents who are more at risk of heart disease, has been given the unique experience of the ‘Centre of the Cell’ interactive pod – suspended above the biomedical laboratories of the Blizard Institute, Queen Mary University of London – which has allowed them to take on the role of healthcare professionals and learn about their hearts and how lifestyle choices affect health.

‘In a Heart Beat’ workshops have been delivered to four school groups and three community groups in Tower Hamlets to further explore the function of the heart, coronary heart disease and its risk factors, and the negative impact of specific lifestyle choices, such as smoking, chewing tobacco and poor diet.

By the end of the project, 300 school children, teachers and members of community groups who are at risk of developing heart disease, will have been motivated to make heart healthy changes to their lifestyles.

Umme Aysha, Tower Hamlets Outreach Officer at Centre of the Cell, says: “We are delighted to be working in partnership with Heart Research UK to deliver this project in our community. The children have really enjoyed visiting the pod at the Centre of the Cell. Through these workshops in their schools, they’re having more fun and are learning the importance of keeping a healthy heart, making changes to their lifestyles for the better.”

Barbara Harpham, National Director at Heart Research UK, says: “It’s great that HRUK can help the hearts of the Tower Hamlets community through this innovative project. People need to be more aware how important it is to lead a healthy lifestyle so they can live healthier, happier, longer lives. Projects like this are a fantastic way of focusing on heart health in an interactive, inspiring and accessible way.”

RUGBY LEAGUE STAR MARKS FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF HEART ATTACK BY VISITING CHILDRENS’ HEART WARD

Rugby League star Adrian Purtell has marked the first anniversary of his heart attack by meeting children undergoing heart surgery on the children’s ward at Leeds General Infirmary.

Adrian, who suffered a heart attack after Bradford Bulls “Magic Weekend” game against Leeds a year ago, has made a full recovery and is back playing in the Super League.

He’s also become an ambassador for Yorkshire-based national charity Heart Research UK and is keen to pass on advice about people living heart-healthy lifestyles so that they reduce their chances of having heart disease - still one of the UK’s biggest killers with nearly 80,000 deaths a year.

Adrian has had mixed emotions during what has been a momentous year. “I’ve really gone from not knowing whether I was still going to be alive, through to doubts about whether I was going to play again, and finally to being given the all-clear to resume my career. That is certainly an extreme set of emotions.

“In between I had to get myself mentally prepared for either not playing again, or going flat out to get back to full fitness. The support I have had on the way from the fans, players and my family has been tremendous and it was my own drive and determination as well as harnessing that wonderful support that has carried me through.”

The emotions couldn’t have been higher as he stood on the touchline at Odsal Stadium on 17 March waiting to come on as a substitute against Hull Kingston Rovers. He got a standing ovation when he crossed the white line for the first time since his heart attack.

Adrian was unsure how he would fare on his return to action earlier this season. “There was obviously a little bit of doubt about pulling on the jersey again and whether I could handle playing, but I had spent months training really hard so I guessed that the hard work and preparation would see me through – which it did,” he said.

He’s been back in a Bulls shirt since March and recently scored a vital try in the 18-18 draw with arch rivals Leeds Rhinos. He hopes to continue playing and improving and helping the Bulls to success during the rest of the season.

During a visit to Leeds General Infirmary, Adrian met one of the cardiologists – Dr John Greenwood – who treated him last year, as well as visiting the children’s heart unit. “Seeing children and babies in hospital brings it home how grateful I am to be so healthy again,” said Adrian. “These youngsters and their families have been through a lot and are an inspiration to us all.”

Barbara Harpham, national director of Heart Research UK said: “Having a heart attack doesn’t have to be the end of the world as you know it - it can be the thing that makes you live a healthier lifestyle and get back on your feet to be as good as you were before or better.

“Adrian is a wonderful role model for us all. Even though he is a top sportsman, he has made changes to his lifestyle to keep his heart healthy and that is a lesson for us all. We are delighted that he is a Heart Research UK ambassador for healthy lifestyles and I am sure he will be an inspiration to others.”

BRISTOL ACADEMY FLYERS GET ACTIVE WITH HOOPS 4 HEALTHY HEARTS

Players from the Bristol Academy Flyers basketball team have taken part in a celebration tournament to showcase and reward participants for their hard work in learning the importance of an active, healthy heart lifestyle.

The ‘Hoops 4 Healthy Hearts’ programme is being run by the Bristol Academy Flyers, thanks to a £9,200 Healthy Heart Grant from national charity Heart Research UK and SUBWAY® stores.

The tournament was a great opportunity for the children from across Bristol to come together and enjoy an active lifestyle. They were able to show their families their new skills and how much they have learned from the sessions. There was great excitement all round as representatives from each school took part, getting their hearts beating faster to try and win the mini games.

The programme has been a huge success, with over 1,200 Young People in Bristol taking part. The celebration tournament was a fantastic opportunity for the programme to showcase their success.

The Hoops 4 Healthy Hearts project aimed to improve the Heart Health of Year five and six pupils by helping them to gain the knowledge, attitudes and behaviour that lead to healthy lifestyle choices. The project has received great feedback from both the children and teachers, with interest in taking up basketball in Bristol, dramatically increasing.

Doug McLaughlin-Williams, Bristol Academy Flyers Player, says: “I'd like to thank everyone who helped make the ‘Hoops 4 Healthy Hearts’ project so successful. Firstly, Heart Research UK and SUBWAY® for supplying us with everything we needed to deliver the health education segments as well the practical basketball sessions. I would also like to thank all of the schools and staff in the North Bristol area who took part in this outstanding programme. And last but not least, the pupils who were willing to try new things, and learned a tremendous amount as a result.

“I'm proud to say I am a part of this, and hope to continue making a positive impact on the future stars of greater Bristol.”

Danny James, Head of Community Development at Bristol Academy Flyers, says: “We are delighted to be working in partnership with Heart Research UK and SUBWAY® stores to deliver this practical and creative Healthy Heart project. Our aim is to engage pupils with lifestyle messages they will never forget, and with the help of professional basketball players, it is proving to be a great success. We would once again like to thank Heart Research UK and SUBWAY® stores for this wonderful opportunity.”

Barbara Harpham, National Director at Heart Research UK, says: “It’s great to see local role models getting involved in helping to spread the Healthy Heart message to the community. It is helping the children to learn about the importance of leading a healthy lifestyle and projects like this are a great way of focusing on heart health in a fun and interactive way.”

Manaaz Akhtar, Head of Marketing for the SUBWAY® brand in the UK and Ireland, says: “The SUBWAY® brand is delighted that through the partnership with Heart Research UK, the HRUK and SUBWAY® Healthy Heart Grant programme is available. SUBWAY® stores in HTV have enjoyed fundraising, and it’s great to see initiatives such as this come to fruition as a result of the money generously donated by our customers in store.”

LEEDS FAMILY COMPETES IN 5K EVENT TO RAISE FUNDS FOR RESEARCH

A Leeds woman, who says her two year old daughter wouldn’t be alive today without research into heart disease, is entering her family in a fun 5K event at Roundhay Park to raise funds to help others.

Vicky Shepherd’s two-year-old daughter, Imogen, had life-saving heart surgery when she was six months old and now the mother of four wants to give something back by entering her family in the SUBWAY® Family 5K event at Roundhay Park on Sunday 9 June.

Vicky, 36, of Spen Bank, West Park, Leeds, is calling on other families to take part in the event and help raise funds for Yorkshire-based national charity Heart Research UK because she says it was research that helped to save her youngest daughter’s life.

Vicky and her partner, Keir Tankard, along with their children, twins Joshua and Coral, 16, Evan, 9, and Imogen, 2, are all taking part on 9 June because they want to give something back.

“We can’t thank research enough because it has saved Imogen’s life,” said Vicky. “I think it is amazing what they can do in heart surgery nowadays. We’re all very excited about taking part in the event and to be able to give something back.”

Imogen needed emergency open heart surgery at six months old after it was discovered that her chest infections were more serious than first thought. After going through a seven-hour operation to correct a rare heart condition she was put on a life support machine – but has now made a full recovery. “It is such a fine line between having something serious and something that is not serious,” said Vicky.

Her nine-year-old stepson, Evan, also has a heart condition, mitral stenosis, and will need an operation at some stage. Vicky says she hopes that by the time he needs the procedure more new techniques may also have been found via research.

The SUBWAY Helping Hearts™ Family 5K at Roundhay Park is open to the whole family, whether you are a novice or just want to beat your personal best. The events are free for children and £5.99 for adults, with all money raised going towards the Heart Research UK and SUBWAY® Healthy Heart Grant scheme which provides financial support to local community groups. The funds raised will also encourage locals to lead healthier lifestyles.

Go to http://www.heartresearch.org.uk/events/subwayfamily5k for race information and to register.

Family and friends are welcome to show their support and cheer on their loved ones at the finish line on 9 June. There will be plenty of family-fun activities on offer throughout the day including face painting, SUBWAY® picnic and family games.

Barbara Harpham, National Director of Heart Research UK said: “We are thrilled to be working with the SUBWAY® brand to encourage a better lifestyle for the whole family. The SUBWAY Helping Hearts™ Family 5K will allow you to raise money for your local community whilst enjoying a fun family day out.”

Manaaz Akhtar, Head of Marketing for the SUBWAY® brand in the UK and Ireland, said: “I am delighted the SUBWAY® brand is launching the SUBWAY Helping Hearts™ Family 5K series in Leeds, the home of Heart Research UK. The fun run shows our commitment to encouraging families to lead a healthier and more active lifestyle.”