The training is starting, even in this summer heat! Marie Dillon, Irish in Britain’s Health and Wellbeing Development Officer, is leading the way to get ready for the Kew Gardens sponsored run in September in aid of Irish in Britain’s Green Hearts campaign.
Green Hearts has brought together a team of runners, with a wide range of fitness and experience to take on this challenge: to run 10K to raise £10K.
They are looking for your support! Click here to sponsor them, every little bit counts.
We will be following the runners through their training over the next weeks and finding out why they support the Green Hearts campaign to help improve the heart health of the Irish community.
At the moment, data tells us that the Irish have higher than average cardio–related deaths. Poor heart health is also a risk factor in vascular dementia and may explain the high levels within the Irish population.
There’s no one explanation for this, some of the reasons include late detection, lifestyle factors and lack of understanding about the risk factors. With your support, Green Hearts aims to address these issues by working together so that we can improve the health of our community.
So far Green Hearts have held a national screening and awareness campaign in partnership with May Measurement Month and created a free heart health guide that’s available to download from our website.
The fantastic feedback and support for the campaign has been more than we ever anticipated. The need and demand for Green Hearts is there.
All of the funds we raise will enable us to develop and expand our awareness campaign to reach more people.
We also want to launch a research programme specifically looking at the health of the Irish population in Britain. As well as this, we are developing a national volunteering programme.
Can you help?
Marie said, “If there’s one thing the Irish are known for it’s their incredible generosity and community spirit.
“Your help and support is vital to the continued success of the campaign and it will enable us to make the truly significant impact that we know is possible, improving the health of the Irish both now and for generations to come.”