Healthy hearts kit

AMF is a social enterprise, which works mainly with deprived Arab and Bangladeshi communities. It provides outreach services to these communities, which include a range of sessions on health and wellbeing promotion, such as healthy eating, nutrition, cooking and weight management, and health checks.

Phayza took our one-day Pass-it-on training course to use the Healthy Hearts kit in 2009, and finds it’s a real bonus in her work:

"The Healthy hearts kit is a wonderful tool for health promotions. Along with a colleague and a BHF staff member, I’ve delivered workshops to small groups of Arabic women to raise their awareness about heart disease and how they can make small but vital changes to live healthier lives. This is crucial because many of these women are at high risk of heart disease due to a poor diet, and lack of exercise.

"The kit contains very useful materials, and concise messages that are easily understood by BME communities in an in'teractive and fun way. It’s been a great success, and some of our service users have since got involved with our physical activity and healthy eating programme. Many thanks to the BHF for providing us with such amazing resources."

Kieron McGlasson

Kieron works with Unlimited Potential, a community-owned social enterprise that helps people to fulfil their potential through leading happier, healthier lives. A vital part of his day-to-day activities involves organising events across Salford to raise and promote health awareness, including about cardiovascular disease.

Kieron told us: “The Healthy Hearts kit really helps me get key heart health messages across. It’s simple to use, and the visual aids are a real bonus, whether I’m engaging small groups or one-to-one. Because it’s interactive, the kit is especially useful when I’m working with BME communities at high risk and explaining how easy it is for people to reduce their risk of heart disease by visiting their GP practice and through simple lifestyle changes.”

Kieron and his team of volunteers also use the kit as part of a cardiovascular disease awareness display in local libraries and supermarkets, at drop-in stalls to engage communities across the city, and on visits to local churches, mosques and synagogues. Kieron has even recruited volunteers to translate the kit’s key messages for asylum seekers.

And we provides other support too: “Giving out Heart Helpline fridge magnets and information leaflets keeps the kit’s messages in our clients’ minds and helps them keep focused on how they can live healthy heart lives.”