February is Heart Month and leading local health charity Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke (NICHS) is using the month to take to the road and bring their Heart Month tour to a number of locations throughout Northern Ireland. The charity kicked things off at The Junction, Antrim on Wednesday 8th February.
Sinead Lynch, Partnerships Manager at NICHS said; “We were delighted to visit The Junction as part of our Heart Month tour. It is important to us to get out and talk to the public and raise awareness of the work our charity does, from our care services and programmes, to our health promotion programmes for workplaces, schools and community groups, and our support of ground-breaking research at local universities and hospitals.”
“It was great to work with the More Leisure team from Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council to give shoppers at The Junction an opportunity to have a free blood pressure check.1 in 2 heart attacks and strokes are linked to undetected high blood pressure and there is a significant proportion of people in Northern Ireland, around 1 in every 8, who have high blood pressure and do not realise it¹. The checks carried out today really could have helped save someone’s life.”
Chris Flynn, Centre Manager at The Junction said; “The Junction was delighted to host Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke during Heart Month to help support them with their work of raising awareness of and trying to prevent chest, heart and stroke illnesses in Northern Ireland. It was a fantastic day with lots on offer. We would also like to thank our customers for their generous support and donations to the charity.”
Amongst the visitors to the event was the Mayor of Antrim and Newtownabbey Alderman Stephen Ross who said; “I was pleased to be able to come down to The Junction and see today’s event in action. The work Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke does within our community is outstanding and this was a great opportunity for people to learn more about the charity and how they support the thousands of local people who need them.”
Antrim-based Mivan Limited recently announced a charity partnership with Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke and members of staff from the company supported Wednesday’s event by taking on a static cycle challenge. Mivan Limited Chief Executive, John Cunningham, said; “We are proud to support NICHS and were more than happy to come down and play our part today. The Mivan team really went the extra mile pounding the pedals to try and raise as much money as possible for the charity. We look forward to developing our partnership with NICHS and getting involved with many more great fundraising initiatives.”
Sinead added; “As a charity we rely on the public’s support. Almost 90% of our care and prevention services and research are funded exclusively by donations. Fundraising efforts like Mivan’s static cycle today and the generous donations from shoppers at The Junction are vital to the work we do. The money raised will help us continue to support the local community and provide life-changing services for people living with chest, heart and stroke conditions and their families.”
“We would like to say a huge thank you to The Junction, Mivan Limited and Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council’s More Leisure team for supporting our Heart Month tour and helping make our first date a great success.”
For more information about upcoming Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke Heart Month tour dates visit https://nichs.org.uk/get-involved/fundraising-events/heart-month
