To mark National Heart Month, the AFC Fylde Community Foundation is celebrating all the work they do to keep hearts healthy in local community.
When it comes to building a healthier community, the key lies in encouraging healthy heart habits from an early age. This is what drives the Foundation’s work in 47 primary schools across Fylde, Wyre, Preston and Blackpool.
The Foundation delivers specialist health and wellbeing programmes which aim to improve young people’s activity rates as well as their overall diet and nutritional outlook.
Outside of schools, the team also offers free community sports programmes throughout the region, getting more than 400 young people active every week.
The Foundation works closely with the Fylde and Wyre Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), using first team players to spread the messages. Last year, their ‘Get on Board’ scheme was named ‘Health Innovation of the Year’ by the CCG for improving overall health in the area.
To help people who are trying to look after their ticker a little better, the Foundation has issued its top five tips:
- Cut down on salty and fatty foods which are major causes of heart disease and strokes.
- Move more – even very gentle exercise such as walking can make a real difference if you make it part of your routine
- Eat your greens (and fruit too). Aim for five portions, or about 400g in total, per day.
- Take some time to unwind. Stress can lead to high blood pressure and take a real toll on your mental wellbeing. Even five minutes of ‘you time’ per day can make a big difference.
- Drink less alcohol. Regularly drinking more than NHS recommendations can lead to cancer, strokes and heart attacks. Try cutting down one drink at a time
For more information on how to get involved with the AFC Community Foundation, please visit www.afcfyldefoundation.co.uk, follow on Twitter @afcfct or call Tom Hutton, director of community development, on 07739 796 101.
