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Grants of up to £25k available for Oxfordshire charities encouraging healthier hearts

Oxfordshire Community Foundation’s Healthy Hearts grants aim to improve cardiovascular health by funding charitable organisations that are promoting positive behaviour, such as increased physical activity and reduced smoking.

The funding is made available from Oxfordshire County Council, Public Health, and grants between £2,000 and £25,000 are on offer to charitable organisations working with those most typically affected, in particular black and minority ethnic groups; men over 40; those experiencing homelessness, mental ill health or addiction; and residents in the ten most deprived wards across the county.

This is a huge opportunity to make a difference in improving heart health, as the majority of heart disease cases are preventable. Behaviour such as smoking, physical inactivity, obesity and drinking at unsafe levels can all be modified to help reduce a person’s risk of developing heart disease. Oxfordshire Community Foundation (OCF) is inviting charities and community groups to apply to fund work that supports the local community in better understanding these risks.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) causes a quarter of all deaths in the UK and is the leading cause of premature deaths in vulnerable people. In the ten most deprived wards in Oxfordshire, smoking rates are between three and eight times higher than average, and people are 30% more likely to have high blood pressure, the biggest single known risk factor for heart attack and stroke.

It has also been proven that heart disease and COVID-19 severity are interconnected, and share common underlying risk factors. People with pre-existing heart disease, diabetes, obesity or high blood pressure experience more severe outcomes, such as hospitalisation, ventilation and death from COVID-19.

OCF is running a 30-minute online workshop for charities that are thinking about applying on Friday 4th February at 2pm. This is the chance to ask questions of the OCF grants team and a member of the grants panel from Public Health about what work is suitable for an application, and learn how to submit an application with the best chance of succeeding.

When else could the Healthy Hearts grants close than Valentine’s Day! Early applications are encouraged and the application page will close on Monday 14th February at noon.

Charities can register for the workshop and apply for a grant at oxfordshire.org/healthy-hearts.

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