My work for National Heart Month
Posted by Andrew Jones, MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, at 10:25, Fri 8 March 2013:
February was National Heart Month, a time when the British Heart Foundation encourages the nation to think about their hearts and the hearts of those around them by alerting individuals to their personal risk factors for heart disease. And I have been very busy supporting the foundation!
I started this month by wearing red, along with my constituency office team, in support of the ‘Rock Up In Red’ day on Friday 1 February. Wear red days have proved popular; in December last year I encouraged schools in my constituency to take part in a Wear it Red day in support of Leeds General Infirmary’s Children’s Heart Surgery Unit.
On Wednesday 6 February, along with many other MPs of all parties, I wore a heart pin-badge during Prime Minister’s Questions and then on Thursday 7 February I won the British Heart Foundation photo ‘tweet off’. I had to tweet a picture of myself on Twitter, the online social network site, along with a heart care message. I competed with other MPs to get it retweeted as many times as I could.
Thank you to everyone who retweeted for me throughout the two day competition enabling me to beat all the other MPs who took part in the competition. I was very grateful for everyone’s actions, and received my Valentine MP award for winning the competition in Westminster. The idea of the competition was to use new social media to reach as many people as possible with the “heart month” message.
Volunteers and donations are the lifeblood of British Heart Foundation charity shops and that is why I volunteered at the Beulah Street BHF shop on Saturday 16 February. It was a very enjoyable session. Talking to the team, the volunteers and some customers too, I could see why the shop is one of the most successful they have. It raises significant sums, and I wanted to encourage local people to volunteer and donate stock.
British Heart Foundation shops raised £31 million last year in the fight against heart disease. Throughout the month I have helped raise funds for and awareness of the British Heart Foundation. I have organised a ‘book drive’ and am collecting books from all over the constituency to support the BHF collection effort. If you have any books, audio books, CDs or DVDs that you no longer want, do please hand them in at my office where we are collecting them for the BHF.
But it was my visit to the Cardiac Rehabilitation Unit at Harrogate Hospital on Tuesday 19 February that gave me a chance to see what happens with the money raised. The unit in the hospital is supported by the British Heart Foundation, and it was very good to meet the team and see what they do to help people in our area who have heart problems. They were a very impressive team.
Heart month saw a mixture of local and national campaigning. From questions in the House to volunteering in the local shop and from using new technology to collecting books, I hope the focus has raised awareness and encouraged some people to think about their heart. Heart disease is the UK’s single biggest killer. That is why National Heart Month was so important to me.
By getting involved in events like these, I hope to highlight the work of the British Heart Foundation, and demonstrate my support with some practical actions.
But heart disease doesn’t stop at the end of February, so it’s not just about National Heart Month. The British Heart Foundation’s campaign to sponsor heart units and combat heart disease continues all year round and that’s why I am encouraging people to get involved.
Andrew Jones MP, 01423 529614, www.andrewjonesmp.co.uk @AndrewJonesMP
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