Lincolnshire FA and the British Heart Foundation

A partnership to bring football and heart health awareness into our community

The Lincolnshire Football Association and the British Heart Foundation have joined together to support, educate, and inspire the community of Lincolnshire on and off the pitch. The Lincolnshire FA want to take a stand in the fight against heart disease and sudden cardiac arrests through raising awareness and funds for the British Heart Foundation in this incredible charity partnership.

The Lincolnshire FA, through its strategy ‘One Lincolnshire community, united and inspired by the power of football’ places football at the heart of our communities and aims to support people to enrich their lives. Football provides a sense of belonging, being part of a community and a wider movement that provides for all those involved; at whatever level or context, with a sense of personal well-being, facilitating the opportunity to grow both individually and collectively.

Football in Lincolnshire has been operating for well over 100 years and today the Lincolnshire FA has over 30000 players and officials regularly participating in sanctioned leagues providing opportunities for adult, youth, mini soccer and disability. Within the football family across the county there are players, referees, volunteers and supporters living with heart and circulatory diseases, and those who have found a way to still enjoy with the game through participating in lower-level activity such as the walking football league.

The British Heart foundation have for over 60 years been funding lifesaving and life changing research. Their most recent and most ambitious research project CureHeart. A global team of the world’s brightest and best researchers and scientists are working together on the first cures for inherited heart muscle diseases.

Every week in the UK we lose 12 people under the age of 35 to sudden cardiac death.

Too many families are living in fear that faulty genes could be passed down from generation to generation. That’s why we urgently need a cure.

The CureHeart team aim to cure these diseases and improve lives by repairing faulty genes in the heart with a simple injection to the arm. Inherited heart muscle diseases can cause symptoms such as shortness of breath, palpitations, chest pains and blackouts.

Nick Hanson CEO of the Lincolnshire FA says:

The Lincolnshire Football Association is delighted to be working in partnership with the British Heart Foundation and to play a role in improving the heart health of our Lincolnshire community. We recognise the essential role that regular exercise plays in maintaining a healthy heart and are excited to now be working with the British Heart Foundation to help the whole football community to be better equipped to prevent, treat and manage heart conditions.

Melanie Meik, Community engagement and Fundraising Manger for Lincolnshire at the British Heart Foundation says:

“We are so excited to be working with the Lincolnshire FA. The sudden collapse of Christian Eriksen following a cardiac arrest highlighted the unexpected impact heart conditions can have. Working together in this exciting partnership will enable us to engage with the football community across Lincolnshire and share heart health information and CPR training with players and their families. We will have some fun along the way with community fundraising too starting with this year’s world cup.

Every 6 minutes in England someone is hospitalised due to a heart attack and an estimated 150,000 people are living with heart and circulatory disease in Lincolnshire. Money raised from events such as these are currently helping to support over 1,000 research projects into heart disease around the UK. Progress is being made but there are still millions of adults and children who need help.

To find out how you can join the fight for every heartbeat and take part in a BHF event visit bhf.org.uk/events