Shropshire Football Association has pledged to raise £10,000 to help the British Heart Foundation (BHF) fund lifesaving research into heart and circulatory diseases and support defibrillator accessories for their clubs.
Shropshire Football Association, who govern, develop and promotes football at all levels, has announced it will support the charity and plans to hold a range of initiatives to reach its fundraising target.
Over the next 2 years, Shropshire Football Association will train their staff and members in CPR, hold fundraising initiatives with walking football and aim for each club to raise £120 to represent the 120 people each month who sadly die from heart and circulatory diseases in Shropshire to help raise much-needed funds.
Colleagues will also participate in several BHF supported health and wellbeing engagement activities, to ensure a healthier workforce.
The money raised by Shropshire FA will help the BHF fund vital research into heart and circulatory diseases like heart attacks, stroke and vascular dementia, and the risk factors that can cause them, such as diabetes and high blood pressure.
Since forming in 1961, the charity has funded research that has contributed to lifesaving breakthroughs such as heart transplants, pacemakers, portable defibrillators, and valve replacements.
Despite the huge progress made, heart and circulatory conditions are still the world’s biggest killers – and every three minutes in the UK, a family loses a loved one to a heart or circulatory disease.
It will also go on to help support accessories and portable defibrillators for clubs across the county after a recent incident involving a 13 year old going into cardiac arrest on the pitch with no defibrillator present.
Around 65,000 are living with these conditions in Shropshire alone.
Andy Weston, CEO at Shropshire Football Association said: “We are so proud to partner with the British Heart Foundation and to know that the funds we raise will help the charity fund lifesaving research. This cause is close to us as we lost our friend and colleague Mick Murphy to a cardiac arrest and we wanted to do something that provided a legacy and had an impact on the game and people’s lives, like Mick did everyday”
“With heart and circulatory diseases killing one in four people in the UK, it’s inspiring to know that our fundraising could make a real impact for such an important cause.”
Zoe Roberts, Fundraising Manager for Black Country, Shropshire and Staffordshire at the British Heart Foundation (BHF) said: “We are honoured that Shropshire FA have chosen to support the British Heart Foundation and help fund the scientific breakthroughs of tomorrow.
“For more than 60 years, the British Heart Foundation has funded research that has turned ideas that once seemed like ‘science fiction’ into treatments and cures that save lives every day. But millions of people are still waiting for the next breakthrough.
“It is only thanks to the generous support of organisations like Shropshire FA that we can keep research going and discover the treatments and cures of the future.”
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