Hearty Lives Plymouth

Checking your pulseSome areas of Plymouth have much higher rates of heart disease than others. These include:

  • Devonport and Maurice Town
  • North Prospect and Keyham
  • Stonehouse and Stoke
  • East End
  • Ernesettle

We are working in partnership with NHS Plymouth and investing £100,000 to improve the heart health of these communities. Almost 400 people have benefited from the Hearty Lives Plymouth project so far and it’s hoped that over the next three years over 6,000 local people will directly benefit from the investment.

Relationships with voluntary and statutory services have been created and partnerships set up with Plymouth YMCA, Plymouth City Council, Plymouth Stop Smoking Service and Eldertree Support & Befriending Service (for over 50s) to deliver the project effectively in the community.

Our aim

The Hearty Lives Plymouth project is a tremendously exciting project for the city, which will help us reduce the high rate of heart disease and strokes amongst our population. Rosie Heath, GP Vascular Lead.

To tackle health inequalities in Plymouth and support the local community through:

  • a Heart Health Improvement Practitioner to help people understand more about heart health including the causes and prevention of heart disease
  • heart health checks in community venues
  • free fitness and heart lifestyle assessments
  • opportunities to learn about cooking and eating for a healthy heart
  • training for Community Heart Health Champions in your neighbourhoods
  • support for workplace heart health sessions in small businesses and with unemployed groups

More info

Hazel, aged 68 from Stoke, and Lisa, aged 28 from Keyham, are just two of the people benefiting from Hearty Lives Plymouth by attending the Integrated Community Exercise (ICE) programme.

Hazel said: “I suffered a heart attack 16 years ago and always try to stay physically active, so I was really pleased to find out about ICE. I think exercise is important in life and in just four weeks of attending I had already noticed a difference to my health and wellbeing.”

Lisa said: “I’ve tried a lot of ‘fad’ diets over the years, so to find out that this new project could help me was great news. I’m really enjoying ICE and have already lost 9lbs, which has made me feel a lot healthier and better.”

For more information about Hearty Lives Plymouth please contact Area Development Manager Suzy Taylor on taylorsu@bhf.org.uk.