Cambridge Rugby has pledged to raise money for research into heart and circulatory diseases after naming the British Heart Foundation (BHF) as its charity of the year.
The partnership will be launched at the club’s Not The Premiership Cup match against Chinnor RFC on 1st March at their Grantchester Road ground, Ellgia Fields.
The club will be holding a collection on behalf of the charity and encouraging supporters to become lifesavers by using the BHF’s RevivR app to learn CPR. The free online tool teaches people how to save a life in just 15 minutes using just a phone and cushion.
The fundraising will continue over the next 12 months with an auction of specially designed items of kit, a quiz night and other initiatives.
The money raised by Cambridge Rugby Club will help the BHF fund vital research into heart and circulatory diseases like heart attacks, stroke and vascular dementia, and the risk factors that can cause them, such as diabetes and high blood pressure.
Since forming in 1961, the charity has funded research that has contributed to lifesaving breakthroughs such as heart transplants, pacemakers, portable defibrillators, and valve replacements.
Despite the huge progress made, heart and circulatory conditions are still the world’s biggest killers – and every three minutes in the UK, a family loses a loved one to a heart or circulatory disease.
Around 96,000 people are living with these conditions in Cambridgeshire alone.
Tim Hague, Chairman at Cambridge Rugby, said: “We’re proud to partner with the BHF and to know that the funds we raise will help the charity fund lifesaving research.
“With heart and circulatory diseases killing one in four people in the UK, it’s inspiring to know that our fundraising could make a real impact for such an important cause.”
Gary Atyes, BHF Fundraising Manager for Cambridge, said: “We are honoured that Cambridge Rugby Club have chosen to support us and help fund the scientific breakthroughs of tomorrow.
“For more than 60 years, we’ve funded research that has turned ideas that once seemed like ‘science fiction’ into treatments and cures that save lives every day. But millions of people are still waiting for the next breakthrough.
“It is only thanks to the generous support of companies like Cambridge Rugby Club that we can keep research going and discover the treatments and cures of the future.”
For more information, please contact Will Slater in the BHF Media Team on 07818 510100 or slaterw@bhf.org.uk