Get moving for health
Keeping physically active is vital to maintaining a healthy heart.
However, this month we revealed new statistics which showed that 1.6 million adults in Scotland are failing to meet the recommended level of physical activity, significantly increasing their risk of heart disease and early death. In the UK physical inactivity causes one in ten premature deaths from coronary heart disease and one in six deaths overall so it’s never been more important to get your heart pumping.
But getting active doesn’t have to be difficult.
With the British Heart Foundation’s Mymarathon challenge you can complete the 26.2 miles in your own time, whether it’s over four hours, four days or four weeks. Run to work every morning, jog during your lunchbreaks or run laps around the park in the evenings. You decide the place and you decide the pace.
More than 30,000 people of all fitness levels took part in Mymarathon last year, raising over £1 million for the BHF’s life-saving heart research.
Why not take on the challenge this May and help give your physical activity a boost?
Every pound raised could help us accelerate the right against heart disease and make a real difference to the 670,000 people that are living with its burden.
You can sign up to Mymarathon by visiting bhf.org.uk/mymarathon, where you will find helpful tips and advice on how to get started. Mike Knapton Associate medical director, The British Heart Foundation
Carers need more support
Many of us enjoy heading off
on a spring getaway around Easter but what if you were simply unable to take any time off?
Well, this is very much a reality for many of the UK’s 6.8 million carers.
Did your readers know that our own research has shown over a third of carers have never had any significant time away since they started caring?
This is astonishing when you consider that more than five out of 10 had been in a caring role for 10 years or more and 30 per cent are 70 or over.
That’s why we’re reaching out to carers everywhere to say that with our support things can change.
I work for Revitalise, a wonderful charity that provides respite breaks for disabled people and carers from all across the UK. We touch the lives of thousands of disabled people and carers each year through our respite breaks. Now we’re able to provide even further support via the Simplyhealth Care Community, an online carers’ forum developed by our long-term partner Simplyhealth and powered by the social network Healthunlocked.
The Simplyhealth Care Community enables unpaid carers to be part of an online support community, a place where they can talk about their concerns, experiences and ask questions to others in similar situations.
With more than half of carers we asked admitting they did not know how they would be able to cope if things continued the way they were, we know it’s likely that there are thousands more carers out there who feel the same and are in need of our support. You can help us to provide it.
To find out more about Revitalise, our breaks or ways you can support us please visit www.revitalise.org.uk or call 0303 303 0145.