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.
Successful Hub with Chair Yoga and local fire safety advice
Our Community Hub session on 21st May was a great success, with a fantastic turnout from local residents for an enjoyable and informative session.
The session began with Chair Yoga from Mr Chana, giving everyone the chance to relax, stretch and enjoy some gentle exercise in a warm and welcoming atmosphere.
This was followed by a helpful talk from the LFB Blue Watch Team on fire safety and prevention. Attendees appreciated the clear and practical advice on staying safe at home and preventing fire risks.
We would like to thank everyone who attended, along with the LFB Blue Watch Team for supporting our community hub meeting. A special thanks also to Mr Chana, Jasbir, Japnam, Mukhtar, Dolly, Kuldeep, Sevraj and Isha for their support and contribution.
Community Spirit & Heart Health at Southall Parkrun
A huge well done to the 150+ runners, joggers and volunteers who joined us early on 28th March at the Southall Parkrun! The crisp, sunny weather set the perfect tone for an incredible turnout that truly celebrated the power of community. There was a real buzz in the air, bolstered by Heartlink providing water bottles to all the runners to ensure everyone stayed hydrated from start to finish. A dozen of our wonderful Heartlink volunteers ran a hugely popular stall with many runners stopping for booklets and a chat.
A highlight of the morning was the unveiling of the new ‘British Heart Foundation Red Bench’ in Southall Park. Dedicated to local runner Bill Lonsdale, the bench encapsulates a personal journey through diagnosis, treatment and recovery, reflecting the reality of living with a heart condition. It serves as a meaningful addition to the park and a powerful reminder of the vital importance of heart health awareness in our community. CLICK HERE to see the full BBC News Story about Bill.
The Power of Movement
This event highlighted how vital regular physical activity is for everyone. Whether you are a seasoned runner or a heart health patient, staying active is one of the most effective ways to improve long-term wellbeing. By fostering healthier lifestyles through movement and encouragement, we don't just feel better individually, we also help reduce the long-term pressure on our vital NHS services.
Special Thanks to:
• The Southall Parkrun Team for their warm welcome and partnership.
• Chana Chemist for supplying the electrolytes that kept our participants going strong.
• Kuldeep for the legendary fruit flan—the perfect motivation to cross the finish line!
The Southall Parkrun is a regular event every Saturday starting at 9am in Southall Park next to the Uxbridge Ed.
Thank you for making the morning so special. Let’s keep moving together!
Diet & Your Heart
Another well attended meeting of members and supporters heard an informative and relevant presentation about diet and heart health from one of our key partners. Emmy West is a Cardiac Dietitian at the Cardiac Health And Rehabilitation Services with Imperial NHS Trust, and is based at our local Hanwell Health Centre.
Emmy highlighted four key ways in which diet affects our health, covering cholesterol, blood pressure, protective nutrients and weight.
She took us through which foods are particularly helpful for each of these issues, for example substituting vegetable oils in the place of butter, ghee and coconut oil . She highlighted the difficulty of avoiding too much salt as so much is already in the foods we buy, and we have to be careful to check the details on the labels.
As we know, healthy weight loss is not easy and best achieved by long term lifestyle changes including changes to diet and exercise habits. She warned us about the volume of misinformation about diet that we all encounter, particularly online, and gave us a list of websites which provide good reliable information.
Many attendees had attended the Cardiac Rehab Course in the past but found it very useful to be updated. There were a lot of important and relevant questions from the large audience, which Emmy addressed. We are very grateful to Emmy for giving up her time to give us such a useful talk.
A copy of her full presentation, which Includes all the useful links can be found by clicking HERE.
A video of Emmy giving us her presentation can be seen just below.
Heartlink Success at Acton and Hanwell Rehab Sessions
Heartlink recently participated in the Imperial Heart Rehab programs held in Acton and Hanwell and we are thrilled to report that both sessions were a resounding success. The events offered a fantastic platform to highlight our ongoing commitment to helping those managing heart conditions and to showcase the vital work Heartlink does within the community.
We are also incredibly grateful to the Imperial College Rehab team for their valuable support and the trust they place in us to be part of these important sessions. This collaboration demonstrates the powerful impact that collective effort can achieve in fostering a positive and motivating environment for all participants.
The turnout was incredibly encouraging with many attendees eager to dive deeper into our initiatives and find ways to get involved. Beyond the clinical aspects of rehabilitation, these gatherings served as a meaningful space for building relationships, sharing mutual support and increasing public awareness. The sense of unity and motivation among everyone present underscored just how much can be accomplished through a shared dedication to cardiovascular health.
We would like to extend a huge thank you to our dedicated volunteers; Sunny, Kuldeep, Mohinder and Isha for their hard work in signing up new members. Their efforts ensure our community stays informed with the latest news and resources. We would also like to recognise Isha, our newest member for her invaluable support at both events. Her contribution made a real difference and together these efforts continue to strengthen the Heartlink community.
Coping with a Heart Attack
At our March meeting Dr Pamela Kaushal, who is an experienced Consultant Psychiatrist at a nearby NHS Trust, talked to us about ‘coping with a heart attack’ and gave a range of useful advice about the pressures and worries caused by heart conditions. Her talk was attended by a packed room of 60 Heartlink members and supporters and chaired by Heartlink Vice Chair, Sunny Chana. If you missed her talk you can catch up by viewing the video below.
She started by getting us to join her in a few minutes of silent mindfulness to help relieve immediate anxiety. She then explained very clearly how some of the symptoms many of us suffer from, particularly after heart treatment, can be caused by our worry and stress. This can include palpitations, sweating, difficulty sleeping, shortness of breath and even chest pains. It is vital to become familiar with and practise useful coping routines to take our minds away from the immediate anxiety. For heart patients suffering from stress it is important to keep immediate treatments to hand including aspirin and a GTN spray. The availability of these can help get us out of panic attacks.
She told us that, after heart attacks more than 50% of patients suffer from depression, and she stressed how important it is for people to seek help for this via their GP, who can refer them for assistance.
Dr Kaushal dealt with a range of important questions from the audience and stayed to talk to the individual members afterwards. Sunny extended our thanks and appreciation for her helpful talk and we presented her with a thank you gift.
Dr. Sethi talks to Heartlink Members and Ealing Worshippers
Despite torrential rain, over 50 members and supporters of Heartlink attended our February educational seminar at Ealing Hospital to hear one of our Trustees, Dr. Amarjit Sethi, speak on the rising rates of cardiovascular deaths in people under 65.
Dr. Sethi is a leading and highly experienced cardiologist, working across several London hospitals including Ealing Hospital, and, as a Heartlink Trustee, he helps guide our charity’s work in supporting heart health awareness and patient care.
He explained the growing number of cardiovascular deaths and outlined the standard modifiable risk factors for heart disease: high blood pressure, raised cholesterol, diabetes, and smoking. He highlighted how many lives could be saved by improving treatment for these conditions.
Dr. Sethi also addressed additional contributors to heart health problems, including unhealthy lifestyles, poor diet, excessive alcohol intake, physical inactivity, obesity, and stress. Genetics, pollution, and socioeconomic factors also play a significant role.
He emphasised simple steps everyone can take to reduce their risk and discussed the potential for future improvements in treatment through technology and AI.
A lively discussion followed for nearly an hour, with many heart patients providing positive feedback on the session. You can
view his presentation by clicking here.
Just 10 days later, as part of the Heartlink Outreach programme, Dr. Sethi delivered a similar talk to a large audience at Ealing Gurdwara, taking time to respond to questions from attendees.
You can see a video of his talk below.
These events highlight how Heartlink actively supports local patients and raises awareness of heart health in our communities.
Beyond talks, Heartlink’s outreach work includes delivering educational presentations, running volunteer information stalls with BHF and other resources at community events, and maintaining permanent booklet displays at multiple public locations.
Heartlink Trustees join us for Christmas Celebration
A packed room of Heartlink members were very pleased to be joined by a full complement of our six medical trustees at our Christmas Dinner at West Middlesex Golf Club on the evening of 11th December.
On this very happy and celebratory occasion we were treated to an excellent traditional Christmas meal prepared and served by Danny and his team. After the delicious meal there was a great opportunity to meet up with old friends, socialise and in many cases to thank one or more of our Trustees for the care they have provided to us as patients.
Our Trustees are Professor Kooner, Cardiac Consultants Dr Nabeel Ahmed, Dr Amarjit Sethi & Dr Harmandeep Singh, together wth Gary La Touche, Ward Manager on the Heart Ward at Ealing Hospital and Barbara Byrne, the Lead Nurse for Ealing Community Heart Failure Service.
We were treated to some short inspiring speeches from two of our other honoured guests and supporters, Councillor Mrs Mohinder Midha, ex Mayor of Ealing, and Jags Sanghera, Chair of Southall Community Alliance, as well as from Dr. Harmandeep Singh and our President Professor Kooner. They all underlined the importance of what we do to support local patients and raise heart health awareness.
The evening rounded off with our traditional Christmas raffle which raised over £300 for Heartlink funds. As well as our Trustees, guests and members, a big thank you to our Committee Members who planned and organised the event, and made sure it was a huge success on the evening.
See MORE PHOTOS HERE
Our biggest and best event in 30 years
Over 300 members, supporters and friends enjoyed a fantastic evening celebrating Heartlink’s 30th Anniversary at the Blue Room, Harrow on the evening of Friday 17th May. The event underlined the development of Heartlink into one of the strongest and most effective Heart Support Groups in London and the UK.
We enjoyed an evening of good food, music, dancing and fundraising, plus inspiring speeches from our founder, trustees and key supporters.
The Heartlink organising team was led by Krishanjit Bajwa and our great thanks go to her and all those who helped her make it such a huge success. We also say a big thank you to Mahesh and his team at the Blue Room for hosting us so well and making the delicious food.
After a welcome from our MC for the evening, Tony Patti, we were served delicious starters and then heard from:
· Professor Jaspal Kooner, our founder and President
· Channi Singh, internationally famous Bhangra singer and our new Heart Health Ambassador.
· Councillor Mohinder Midha, who as Mayor of Ealing had raised major funds for our work.
· and Trustee Dr Harmandeep Singh.
TO SEE MANY MORE PHOTOS OF THE EVENT CLICK BELOW
Dr Amarjit Sethi (Trustee) was on hand to welcome guests and raise our profile amongst partners. A display on the large screen showed attendees scenes from Heartlink’s work and history. Our Trustees thanked key donors for funds they presented and pledged to us, and then Tony Patti, supported by long term friend of Heartlink, Steve Pound, ran a raffle for some great donated prizes, to raise more funds for us.
After more delicious food, the audience settled down to a couple of hours of unrestrained dancing and were treated to great live performances from Channi Singh and his daughter Mona.
We were joined for the evening by supporters, friends and key partners from across our area including:
· The Northwest London University Healthcare NHS Trust.
· Pingalwara Charitable Society
· Mael Gael Community Project.
· Ealing Gurdwara
· Shree Ram Mandir Southall.
· West London Asian Society
· NHS staff from Ealing Hospital Cardiology,
Hanwell Rehab Service and Hillingdon Hospital.
· Hounslow Multicultural Centre.
· Southall Lions.
· Howdens
Heartlink wins Southall Team of the Year
Heartlink was honoured to be awarded Team of the Year by Southall Community Alliance at its Annual Awards Ceremony on Saturday 25th November.
The award is in recognition of our work as a charity to help and support local heart patients and to raise awareness about heart disease in the local community. We have significantly increased our work and initiatives over the last year, and this award encourages us to redouble our efforts.
A group of 10 Heartlink members received the Award on the stage and took full part in a lively and varied award ceremony which recognised a number of local ‘unsung heroes’ and was attended by approximately 200 local people.
We would like to thank the Directors and Board of Southall Community Alliance for this honour. Heartlink members are pictured with Jaskaran Singh, a leading board member, Channi Singh, an internationally famous singer and musician, who is a proud product of the Southall community and our long-time supporter and benefactor Cllr Mrs Mohinder Midha, who presented many of the Awards.
Ealing Mayor presents cheque for our heart health programme
At a ceremony in the Council chamber at Ealing Town Hall on 17th August, Councillor Mrs Mohinder Midha presented Heartlink with a cheque for a huge £22,516. This represented the funds she had raised for us as her selected charity during her mayoral year, which ended in May. She did tireless and fantastic work throughout her year, getting donations and organising a large number of fundraising events, including celebration dinners. She was ably supported by Cheryl and the staff in the Mayor’s office.
A team of 15 Heartlink members were welcomed to the ceremony by the Mayor, her husband, Southall MP Virendra Sharma, long standing Heartlink supporters Councillors Harbajan and Ranjit Dheer, together with major donors from the Western Rd Gurdwara. Other major donors and fundraisers included staff from the Southall branch of Barclays Bank.
Heartlink chairman Trevor Davison thanked the Mayor for the huge effort she has made and presented her with an inscribed heart-shaped crystal plaque and a framed certificate of thanks. Heartlink representatives told the Mayor that the funds will be used to create a legacy for her efforts, by developing and extending our campaign to raise awareness of heart disease in the community. We shall involve her and her husband with us in this.
Fittingly, the ceremony was also attended by the wife and daughter of the late and much missed former Mayor Tejinder Dhami, who also raised substantial funds for us as his chosen charity,
in 2018-19.
For more PHOTOS see our Photo Gallery HERE.
Heartlink honours a great supporter and community leader
On a lovely warm summer morning on 12th June at Ealing Hospital, Heartlink held a well-attended ceremony in honour of
Councillor Tejinder Singh Dhami. During his term as Mayor of Ealing in 2018-19, Tejinder, who was a heart patient himself, adopted Heartlink as one of his chosen charities and raised many thousands of pounds for us.
This was used to purchase monitors for heart failure patients and items for the Cardiac ward at the hospital. During the period of the pandemic, these funds were crucial in keeping Heartlink functioning and were used to provide oximeters and oxygen concentrators. Sadly, Tejinder passed away in 2021 after many years of service to the local community and 20 years as a councillor..
At the ceremony, Councillor Mrs Mohinder Midha, who has just completed her own term as Mayor of Ealing, cut the ribbon on a new bench at the hospital entrance inscribed in honour of Tejinder. Tejinder’s wife, Rajinder Kaur Dhami unveiled a plaque in his memory in the Cardiology Clinic on Level 2. The ceremony was attended by Tejinder’s family and friends, ex colleagues from Ealing Council, Hospital staff and Trust representatives, as well as Heartlink members. The attendees heard tributes to Tejinder from his daughter, Neelam Kaur Dhami, Councillor Mrs Midha, Heartlink President Professor Jaspal Kooner and supporter Professor Stuart Rosen, plus Heartlink Chairman, Trevor Davison.
Tejinder’s invaluable fundraising work for Heartlink has been continued by his family, who raised £6000 for us in his memory, and by councillor Mrs Midha, who also adopted Heartlink as her Mayoral Charity for the year just gone.
After the ceremony, the attendees chatted and had light refreshments in the upper entrance area of the hospital.
The beautiful new Inscribed bench will remind us of Tejinder every time we enter or leave the hospital.
For more PHOTOS see our Photo Gallery HERE.