He made it! Sukh's Challenge - success!
Sukh has recently successfully completed his trek and climb of Mount Toubkal in Morocco which is North Africa's highest peak at a massive 4167 metres, reaching the summit on 16th September. He took on this challenge to raise funds for Heartlink and our work of supporting local heart patients. He has beaten his target of £2500.
BACKGROUND
At a Heartlink visit to David Lloyd Health Centre in Heston, we were approached by Sukh Ghosh, one of the personal trainers who works there. In September he was planning to take on the five-day challenge of climbing
You can see the ROUTE HE TOOK BY CLICKING HERE
He offered to use this as a Charity Challenge to raise funds for Heartlink and to spread awareness about heart conditions in the local community. A copy of the leaflet about his Challenge is shown with this news item..
As a personal trainer at David Lloyd Heston, Sukh specialises in Thai boxing and developing mental toughness for those struggling with depression and mental health problems. He tells us that his grandmother passed away from a heart attack. He has been inspired to undertake this to support Heartlink from talking to our Committee Member Kuldeep and meeting our team at an event at David Lloyd Heston.
Sukh attended our Annual General Meeting on 1st October where we had the opportunity to give him a huge 'thank you' for all his efforts.
We would like to express our huge thanks and admiration to Sukh in doing this for Heartlink and local heart patients.
Big impact at major community event
The great Heartlink volunteer team can feel rightly proud of the impact they made to promote heart health at the large Emergency Response Roadshow in Southall on Saturday 12th September.
The event was organised by Ealing Council Emergency Management Team in coordination with a full range of local emergency and community services, and held in the afternoon at the Parkside Yards in the Green Quarter close to Southall Station.
Our busy stall on the main concourse was supported by the offer of blood pressure and blood sugar testing from our fantastic partners Chana Chemist in the upstairs community room. A constant queue of local residents went upstairs for their tests after chatting to us about our work at our stall. The testing team of four barely stopped for three hours, with a good number of people offered follow-ups or recommended to see their GPs, after receiving their results. Lots of our friends from the local emergency services took advantage of our testing.
We were very pleased to be visited by Ealing Mayor Councillor Faduma Mohamed and Deputy Mayor Councillor Dr Ghulam Murtaza.
A particular thanks for their invitation to take part and all their help to Jags Sanghera, Head of Community Engagement at The Green Quarter and Shaan Motaleb, Deputy Head of Emergency Management.
A huge shout out to the 20+ wonderful Heartlink volunteers who joined and helped over the course of the afternoon.
See many more photos of the event in our PHOTO GALLERY HERE
Local awards for friends of Heartlink
A team from Heartlink was pleased to join the fantastic celebration at the packed out Southall Community Alliance Awards Ceremony on the evening of Friday 11th September.
Heartlink is proud to be affiliated to the Southall Community Alliance which represents community organisations from across the Southall area, and to work with them in the interests of all our local communities and residents.
Their Awards Ceremony was attended by over 300 and honoured a range of local individuals and organisations who have made outstanding contributions
We were extremely pleased with the success of our two awards nominees.
· Gurdev Chana, who has led our monthly chair yoga at our Community Hub for dozens of our members and supporters over two years, won his award in the ‘Outstanding Community Achievement’ category.
· Our local heart health promotion and test testing partners Chana Chemist who regularly work with us at community events, were winners in the ‘Community Business Excellence’ category.
The Heartlink team enjoyed a great evening of good food, entertainment and catching up with literally hundreds of our local friends. Congratulations to the SCA team for organising a great event!
Top cardiologist gives vital advice to Heartlink members
Another record attendance for one of our monthly meetings heard widely respected Cardiologist Professor Prakash Punjabi give one of our best and most challenging talks.
The talk was entitled ‘The Cardiovascular Effect of Diabetes’ and his hugely informative presentation can be seen below.
He gave us a wide range of vital information and clear advice for how to reduce our risks of major heart health problems and how to maximise the benefit of any heart surgical procedures we have had. His talk was very entertaining and he dealt with a wide range of questions from members as he went through the topic.
He explained the vital role of the natural hormone insulin in our blood in breaking down food into glucose (sugar) which we use for energy, and the damage and problems caused by lack of insulin. Diabetes increases cardiovascular disease risks by up to 4 times and can lead to heart attacks, heart failure, strokes, and leg blood flow problems.
He emphasised and listed simple steps we can all take to reduce our problems. He told us to make sure we get our heart health regularly reviewed as medications have a dramatic impact and a range of highly effective new medications are becoming available.
Professor Punjabi‘s background and achievements are hugely impressive. He has worked in cardiology in West London for over 30 years and performed very many heart bypass operations. A number of our members at the meeting thanked him personally for his skills, one of whom he operated on 23 years ago.
He told us that he worked at Ealing with Professor Kooner on the ‘Lollipop’ research project (later called the South Asian Biobank), which has established the scientific basis for the fact that the genetic makeup of people of South Asian Heritage gives them a higher risk of cardiovascular disease problems.
His impressive list of current roles include:
Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon at Imperial NHS Trust. Professor of Practice in Cardiothoracic Surgery at National Heart & Lung Institute. Training Program Director for the UK’s largest Cardiothoracic Surgery National Training Programme. President of the Cardiothoracic Section of the Royal Society of Medicine. Surgical Tutor for the Royal College of Surgeons.
Enjoyable walk with the British Punjabi Welfare Assoc.
A huge thank you to the British Punjabi Welfare Association who, on the afternoon Saturday of 5th September, organised a Charity Walk in Regents Park to raise funds for Heartlink - with over £2000 raised by dozens of BPWA members & supporters.
At 1 pm on Saturday a joint group of us from BPWA and Heartlink assembled at Chester Gate, Regents Park and enjoyed a walk through a beautiful park in lovely warm sunny weather. We stopped off for a drink and snack at the Waterside Café by the Boating Lake before finishing and extending a huge thank you to them.
We are very grateful to all at the BPWA and especially Raman, Jagjeet, Inder and Japnam, who we hope will come along to our Annual General Meeting on 1st October where we can extend all our thanks and gratitude,
Heartlink at Barsi Samagam: Health & Partnership in Action ✨
Our brilliant volunteers were out in force at this year’s Barsi Samagam, distributing our leaflets and BHF booklets to share vital heart health guidance and support patient care, a huge thank you to every one of them!
Heartlink was honoured to host a stall at this special annual event of Sant Ishar Singh Ji, held 28–30 August at SKLP Sports Ground, Northolt. Welcoming over 5,000 visitors, it gave us a wonderful platform to raise awareness of heart disease and general cmmunity health.
We’re deeply grateful to Chana Health Chemist team for their invaluable partnership, delivering free blood pressure and blood glucose testing on site. Together, we helped hundreds of people check their health markers and learn about heart health and diabetes prevention turning the event into a real opportunity for early awareness and care.
It was wonderful to combine our outreach awareness mission with such a cherished cultural occasion, alongside the hospitality of Langar (free food). Thank you to everyone who visited our stall, community health truly at its best!
Diabetes rate in Southall double national average
An analysis of the rate of diabetes in Southall, based on information from all Southall GP practices for the last two years, reveals a severe problem in the area.
On average the rate of diabetes in our Southall population is about twice the national average and for some areas is higher than that. Similarly, data regarding prescriptions for Metformin, a drug prescribed widely to manage diabetes, shows a 21% increase in prescriptions issued between 2019 and 2025.
Whilst many of us manage to cope with having diabetes, it is has a major impact on the health and lifestyle of individuals. It can lead to a number of severe health conditions and in particular, people with diabetes are three times more likely to develop cardiovascular disease. British South Asians are 6 times more likely to develop Type 2 Diabetes than white Europeans.
The data is contained in a recent article in the online paper ‘NW Londoner’ and includes information about the huge number of local sweet shops and an interview with local GP Dr Onkar Sahota.
You can read the full article HERE. (Heartlink does not take responsibility for the views in the article).
Heartlink's key aim is to raise awareness about diabetes and other heart related conditions in our local community – including particularly Southall. We provide information online and in booklets and leaflets, run educational seminars and promote a healthy lifestyle to help reduce risks.
Health Camp in Southall a huge success
Heartlink was very pleased to help at the hugely successful Health Camp held at the Ramgharia Sabha Gurdwara in Oswald Rd, Southall on Sunday 9th August. The Camp was organised by the Gurdwara led by the President Joga Singh, with invitations circulated widely in the local community. It was held inside a marquee at the back of the Gurdwara, and involved health advice and testing at a number of stalls run by a variety of locally based health organisations.
The Heartlink stall was run by a dozen of our wonderful volunteers who gave out hundreds of leaflets and heart advice booklets, including our new leaflet about ‘Healthy living after 65’, which is in both Punjabi and English.
We got a fantastic response from attendees with dozens of new people joining us. Those stalls which offered blood pressure and diabetes testing never stopped their work for a minute.
We were very happy to be visited by Ealing Mayor Councillor Faduma Mohamed and local Southall MP Deirdre Costigan, who spent hours visiting all of the stalls.
The event was a fantastic success showing the appetite for health advice and testing amongst local people. Heartlink has begun to work with local pharmacy Chana Chemists and we plan to offer blood pressure and other heart health testing when we run our stalls in the next few months.
We extend our huge thanks to Joga Singh and the Gurdwara Committee for inviting us.
Dr Sahota provides vital heart advice
A record audience attended our August meeting at Ealing Hospital to hear well-known local GP Dr Onkar Sahota give us a talk entitled ‘The GP-patient partnership against heart disease and diabetes’.
The aim of this excellent talk was to advise us how to maximise the benefit we can achieve as patients from our local GP and other NHS services by following simple steps including self-monitoring using basic tests.
He stressed how diabetes and heart disease are linked conditions for many patients and that high blood sugar will, over time, irritate, damage and inflame the lining of our arteries.
As we can only see our GP and health professionals for short appointments, it is vital to monitor our own results regularly. Home blood pressure monitoring, done consistently and correctly with an upper arm cuff, together with recording the results, is vital. Having regular HbA1c blood tests at the GP surgery is key to tracking possible diabetes. Only patients on specific medicines, for instance insulin, need to carry out home pinprick blood tests. He gave important specific advice to heart failure patients about monitoring themselves using normal weight scales.
He advised us to maximise what we get out of our brief 10 minute GP appointments by preparing so that we prioritise raising our most important concerns.
His presentation was very well received by the audience with many varied questions Dr Sahota had prepared a very useful one-page handout of his key messages which we gave to all attendees. A full copy of his presentation can be seen if you click HERE.
He stayed behind for a long time to take individual questions from members, and we are very grateful to him for his time and input.
Good advice about strokes
At our July meeting we were given vitally important advice about strokes by one of our most popular speakers, Heartlink Trustee and Cardiology Consultant Dr Harmandeep Singh. The meeting was one of our best attended, with well over 60 of us there.
Significant numbers of people will suffer from a TIA (Transient Ischemic Attack) or mini stroke, and this is a warning that the person needs follow medical advice because there is risk of a much more serious event. He explained that there are two types of stroke, ischemic and hemorrhagic, which need to be treated in different ways, very urgently in hospital.
He stressed the importance of FAST action if you suspect someone may have had a stroke, as rapid medical intervention is vital to save lives and maximise the extent of recovery. The critical action is to call 999 fast and report a suspected stroke. We should not take people to hospital ourselves, as not all hospitals are set up to deal with strokes. The ambulance service will take people to the nearest hospital with a specialist stroke unit. This is similar for heart attacks.
He explained that high levels of bad cholesterol in the blood is a significant cause of strokes, just as it is of heart attacks. As the blood vessels in the brain are very thin, bad cholesterol can cause blood clots and thus strokes.
There our there are a range of actions we can all take relating to diet, lifestyle, exercise, smoking and alcohol which will significantly reduce our risk of a stroke.
Dr Harman’s presentation was followed by a lively question and answer session.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW HIS EXCELLENT PRESENTATION
Also videos of Dr Harman giving his presentation can be seen by clicking THIS LINK.
Great reception at Central Jamia Mosque - Southall
In June we were invited to arrange for our Trustee, Cardiology Consultant Dr Nabeel Ahmed, to address the congregation before Friday prayers at Southall Central Jamia Mosque. His talk was focused on taking simple steps to reduce heart health risks and was very well received by many worshippers. Before and after prayers a group of volunteers ran a stall with booklets, leaflets and information and we were almost overwhelmed by the interest. A hugely successful event.
Sponsored walk a fantastic success
40 enthusiastic members and supporters joined our most enjoyable Sponsored Walk on Wednesday 10th June. We held our walk to promote healthy exercise and raise funds for our vital work of supporting local heart patients and raising heart health awareness. The walk was organised by our weekly Wednesday Walkers Group and many of the participants were regular walkers. We were very pleased to be joined by Mrs Midha, longtime Heartlink supporter and previous Mayor of Ealing, and our Trustee Gary La Touche, Ward Manager on the Heart Ward at Ealing Hospital
From the photos you can see that we enjoyed the walk from Greenford Centre through local parkland in Perivale Park to the Pear Tree Park Bistro, where we all had a good chat and refreshments. We were fortunate to avoid any showers.
Many members made big efforts to raise funds for us by getting friends and those who they know from our local community to sponsor them. Others donated via Kindlink on our website Donate Page. Although the final sum is not available yet, it is likely to be well in excess of £2k.
A key aim of the walk was to encourage more heart patients and others to take up healthy exercise and join our Weekly Wednesday Walkers Group. A number of those who took part said they will do that just that.
Our Wednesday Walkers meet at 10am every Wednesday at Greenford Hall and you can see more details by clicking HERE.
You can see MANY MORE PHOTOS of us all on the walk in our website PHOTO GALLERY – click HERE.
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Huge impact at David Lloyd Heston
We were delighted to deliver a Heart Health Awareness Campaign in collaboration with Chana Health (Chemist) at the David Lloyd (DL) Gym at Heston on Wednesday 13th May. The event brought the DL community together to focus on the importance of heart health and preventative care, offering a range of health checks including blood pressure (BP), blood glucose and cholesterol testing. It was encouraging to see so many people taking positive steps towards improving their wellbeing and engaging so positively with our project.
We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to Chana Health (Chemist) for carrying out all of the health testing and to David Lloyd Heston Club for their warm hospitality and continued support in making this event such a success. We would also like to thank the Skipton Building Society Harrow for their amazing donation of the tests and testing equipment
A special thank you also goes to our Heartlink members, Kuldeep for organising the initiative and Sunny & Isha, whose support and dedication throughout the event were truly invaluable.