Hearts United

15/10/2026

❤️ Defibrillators #3 & #4! ❤️

Yesterday we had the pleasure of donating another 2 portable defibrillators, this time to Appleby Football Club’s 1st team and reserves! ⚽️❤️

Both teams will now have immediate access to a defibrillator pitch side, whether they’re playing at home or away.

We also spent time with both teams going through the basics of CPR and how to use a defibrillator, making sure they know how to act quickly, work together and potentially save someone’s life in an emergency.

The lads were so grateful for the donation and it was great to see them all getting involved and learning skills that could one day make such a difference.

Of course, we hope these defibrillators are never needed, but knowing they’re there and that the players have the knowledge and confidence to act is what this initiative is all about.

Early CPR and access to a defibrillator really can be the difference between life and death. ❤️

That’s now 4 portable defibrillators we’ve donated to local football teams through Hearts United, and we’re hoping this is just the beginning!

Every penny we raise through fundraising and the generosity of our supporters helps us continue doing things like this in our local community.

❤️ Prevention, education and giving people the best possible chance when it matters most.

11/10/2026

❤️ Today we donated our first two portable defibrillators to Castletown Thunder and Lightning U9s! ⚽️

These will be kept in the teams’ kit bags, meaning they will have access to a defibrillator pitch side at both home and away games.

Since starting Hearts United, I’ve become so much more aware of the importance of heart health and particularly having quick access to a defibrillator when playing sport.

One thing I’ve noticed at so many sports grounds is that whilst they may have a defibrillator in the clubhouse, the pitches can often be a considerable distance away.

And as we know, when someone suffers a cardiac arrest, every second counts. The quicker CPR is started and a defibrillator is used, the better their chance of survival.

So this is something new we’re introducing at Hearts United. We want to help more grassroots sports teams have access to portable defibrillators that can be taken wherever they play.

Of course, we hope they never have to be used, but if they are ever needed, having one right there could make all the difference.

This is the first of what we hope will be many donations to local sports teams, and another way we can use the money we raise to potentially save lives. ❤️

A huge thank you to everyone who continues to support Hearts United. It’s because of you that we can do things like this. ❤️

10/10/2026

❤️ Penrithian of the Year for the third year running! ❤️

A huge thank you to Penrith Chamber of trade and commerce, and to everyone who took the time to nominate me. I really do appreciate it and it means such a lot to have the support of our local community.

Of course it’s lovely to receive an award, but for me it’s about so much more than that.

If it helps raise awareness of what we’re doing at Hearts United and encourages just one person to book a heart screening, come along to a CPR session or support the work we do, then that’s what really matters to me.

I’m so proud of what we’ve achieved so far and even more excited about what we can go on to do.

Thank you again to everyone who continues to support me and Hearts United. It really does mean a lot. ❤️

07/10/2026

❤️ Another incredible Hearts United screening weekend complete! ❤️

We screened a total of 201 individuals, 19 of those require a follow up with their GP with regards to symptoms/family history or further tests.

That brings our total to an incredible 1,605 young hearts screened and 123 referred for further tests. ❤️

We’d like to wish everyone who has been referred all the very best with their follow-up appointments. ❤️

A huge thank you, once again, to the amazing Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) team for everything you do.

Thank you to QEGS for hosting us and providing such a fantastic space, and a massive thank you to Gill and Issy for all your help throughout the weekend. I really couldn’t do these weekends without you! ❤️

Our raffle winner was Mel Munro 🎉 and an amazing £605 was raised!

Thank you to everyone who bought tickets and supported us. Every penny will go straight back into Hearts United, helping us fund future heart screenings and provide resources to support our work in the local community.

❤️ Our next heart screenings will take place in February 2027 at Penrith Rugby Club and Keswick Rugby Club.

If you’d like to be added to our waiting list and be notified when appointments become available, please send us a message.

Thank you to every single person who continues to support Hearts United and helps us keep doing what we do. ❤️

07/10/2026

❤️ A massive thank you to Penrith Town Council for their very generous donation of a female CPR manikin and a youth manikin to Hearts United.

This might just look like two new manikins, but for us it’s actually really important.

Having a full range of manikins means when we deliver our FREE CPR awareness sessions, people can practise on different ages and body types and hopefully feel much more confident if they ever have to do it for real.

And the female manikin is something I really wanted us to have.

Women are 27% less likely than men to receive bystander CPR in public and a lot of that comes down to people worrying about touching a woman’s chest, removing clothing or simply not knowing where to put their hands.

We really need to change that and normalise doing CPR on women.

If someone is in cardiac arrest, it really doesn’t matter if they are male or female. There shouldn’t be any embarrassment or hesitation. They just need someone to step in and help them.

When you think that only around 1 in 10 people survive an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, those odds are already scary enough without women having an even smaller chance because somebody was worried about doing the wrong thing.

So for us, having a female manikin isn’t just about adding another piece of equipment. It gives us the opportunity to talk about this, practise it and hopefully remove some of those worries.

The youth manikin also means we can make our sessions even more useful and give people the confidence to perform CPR on a younger person too.

Thank you so much Penrith Town Council for supporting what we are trying to do at Hearts United. ❤️

It really could help save someone’s life one day. ❤️

04/10/2026

I never quite know how to put into words how I feel at the end of one of our screening weekends. ❤️

This weekend 201 young people came through our doors for a free heart screening.

We’ll share the overall referral figures later this week, once everything has been collated, but tonight I just want to say the biggest thank you to the incredible Cardiac Risk in the Young screening team.

At Hearts United, we raise the money to make these weekends happen, and our volunteers put so much into bringing everything together - but ultimately, it is the knowledge, skill and expertise of the CRY team that makes these screenings what they are.

There are moments during these weekends that remind me just how important heart screening can be. Moments that make all the fundraising, organising, worrying and hard work completely worth it.

For obvious reasons, anything relating to an individual screening will always remain completely private. But I came away from this weekend feeling more certain than ever about why we do what we do.

Every young person who walks through those doors matters.

Thank you to the CRY team for the care and expertise you bring to our community, to our volunteers who make these weekends possible, and to every single person who has donated or fundraised for Hearts United.

201 young people screened this weekend. ❤️

And we’ll keep going.

03/10/2026

❤️ Thank you to everyone who came along for their heart screening today! ❤️

Unfortunately, we ended up 7 appointments down due to commitments that people had forgotten to let us know about 😬

The good news is that this means we have some FREE heart screening appointments available TOMORROW! ❤️

If you’re aged 14–35, are free tomorrow and would like to have your heart screened, please get in touch with us ASAP.

Please share too , you never know who might benefit from one of these appointments. ❤️

03/10/2026

Please share ♥️♥️

A couple of cancellations have become available for heart screenings today. Please message if you’d like one.

03/10/2026

30/09/2026

This weekend we will screen another 200 young people at QEGS.
As always if you feel you cannot make the appointment please please let us know so we can offer this to someone else.
If you didn’t get round to making an appointment but would like to go on the cancellation list (highly likely to get an appointment) please let us know.
These appointments are free of charge thanks to the work of everyone connected to Hearts United. ♥️