September 29th is World Heart Day and we decided to hold a heart screening event on this day to promote heart health
Created by the World Heart Federation, World Heart Day informs people around the globe that Cardiovascular Disease (CVD), including heart disease and stroke, is the world’s leading cause of death claiming 17.9 million lives each year, and highlights the actions that individuals can take to prevent and control CVD. It aims to drive action to educate people that by controlling risk factors such as tobacco use, unhealthy diet and physical inactivity, at least 80% of premature deaths from heart disease and stroke could be avoided.
World Heart Day is a global campaign during which individuals, families, communities, and governments around the world participate in activities to take charge of their heart health and that of others. This year on World Heart Day, as part of their mission to ensure heart health equity for all, they want to create a global community of Heart Heroes … people from all walks of life who are acting now to live longer, better, heart-healthy lives by making the following promise:
- A promise to our families to cook and eat more healthily
- A promise to our children to exercise more and help them to be more active, to say no to smoking and help our loved ones to stop
- A promise as a healthcare professional to help patients give up smoking and lower their cholesterol
- A promise as a policymaker to support policies that promote healthy hearts
- A promise as an employee to invest in heart-healthy workplaces
“A simple promise … for MY HEART, for YOUR HEART, for ALL OUR HEARTS.
Cardiovascular disease is the world’s number one killer today. But it doesn’t need to be this way. By making just a few small changes to our lives, we can reduce our risk of heart disease and stroke, as well as improving our quality of life and setting a good example for the next generation. It’s about saying to yourself, the people you care about and individuals all around the world: “What can I do right now to look after my heart … and your heart?”
Because we believe every heartbeat matters.”
We decided to hold our 31st screening on World Heart Day and chose Eaton Golf Club in Waverton, Chester as the venue as the current Captain and his wife, Roy and Carol Claxton, chose Vital Signs Foundation (VSF) as their charity during Roy’s year of Captaincy at the golf club. They have been tirelessly raising funds since January and due to the generosity of everyone at the golf club they raised enough to hold the heart screening event on World Heart Day.
As you can see from the photos, we had a fantastic response from our attendees and their friends and family to our request that they make a promise, written on a pink heart shaped post-it note, and pinned to our display board. This is mainly down to Jane Moore, the Lady Captain at Eaton Golf Club, who kindly volunteered to run this event and speak to people about making a promise. She did an absolutely marvellous job, engaging many of our attendees at the heart screening to get involved and make a promise. Our heartfelt thanks and gratitude go to Jane for making World Heart Day a huge success at our heart screening event!
