Lincolnshire FA partner up with heart charity for cardiac arrest awareness

The Lincolnshire Football Association has joined forces with the British Heart Foundation to provide support and education around cardiac arrests on and off the pitch.

A new strategy by the local FA, titled ‘One Lincolnshire community, united and inspired by the power of football’, places the beautiful game at the heart of communities and supports people to enrich their lives.

Wanting to take a stand against heart disease and raise cardiac arrest awareness, the Lincolnshire FA has agreed a charity partnership with the British Heart Foundation – bidding to raise funds and educate people across the county.

There are currently more than 30,000 players and officials regularly participating in sanctioned leagues run by the Lincolnshire FA.

The partnership comes at a poignant time, following the terrifying Christian Eriksen cardiac arrest at the European Championships. | Photo: British Heart Foundation

Within this community are people of all walks of life who live with heart and circulatory diseases. Despite this they still find a way to enjoy the sport through lower level activity, such as walking football.

The partnership comes at a time when awareness is at an all-time high, following the sudden cardiac arrest of Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen during a Euro 2020 game – where his life was dramatically saved on the football pitch.

The British Heart Foundation has been funding lifesaving research for over 60 years, recently launching a new project called CureHeart – bringing together a global team of scientists hunting for the first cures of inherited heart muscle diseases.

Every week in the UK, 12 people under the age of 35 lose their life to sudden cardiac arrest, and the CureHeart team at the BHF aim to cure diseases and improve lives by repairing faulty genes with a simple arm injection.

The intention of this new partnership with the Lincolnshire FA is to take inspiration from the unity and sense of belonging you get from a sport like football, and translating it to a welcoming community for those with heart conditions.

Uniting people’s love of football with a quest for healthy hearts. | Photo: British Heart Foundation

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.”

To find out how you can join the fight for every heartbeat and take part in a BHF event
visit the British Heart Foundation website.