Heartlink AGM marks major progress
A well-attended Annual General Meeting of Heartlink on October 3rd celebrated the major achievements and progress made over the past year. While we have operated as the Ealing Hospital Heart Support Group for over 30 years, this marks our second full year as a registered charity.
We were greatly encouraged by the supportive speeches from important Ealing councillors, including Polly Knewstub, the cabinet member for Healthy Equal Lives, and our strong supporter, former Mayor of Ealing, Mrs. Mohinder Midha.
The meeting highlighted how, in line with our charitable objectives, we expanded our efforts to support heart patients at Ealing Hospital and the wider community. In addition to our core activities, such as our weekly Information Desk and visits to patients at Ealing Hospital, we continued to organize our Wednesday Walking Group and host our very popular monthly Educational Seminars.
To address inequalities, we also launched a monthly Community Hub where people can come together to share meals, engage in gentle exercise, build friendships, and learn new skills such as IT. The Hub has been very well received, becoming a key space for individuals to support each other and improve their wellbeing.
Another significant initiative was the launch of our Heart Health Campaign, which forms a major part of our outreach work. This campaign has been crucial in raising awareness of heart health, providing essential information, and promoting healthier lifestyles. The response from the community has been overwhelmingly positive, demonstrating a strong commitment to improving personal heart health.
We conducted over fifteen successful visits to community groups, health centres, businesses and schools, where we engaged with the public, shared knowledge, and gathered valuable feedback. These interactions have not only strengthened our community ties but have also provided insights to better serve those affected by cardiovascular diseases.
All of our comprehensive events and activities are free and open to everyone.
The AGM concluded by re-electing our Trustees for another year and appointing a new and strengthened management committee to oversee Heartlink’s mission to support individuals with heart diseases and raise awareness of associated risks. See MORE PHOTOS HERE.
Ealing Hospital's new Community Diagnostic Centre
Heartlink representatives were delighted to attend the opening of Ealing Hospital’s new Community Diagnostic Centre on 23rd October. This state-of-the-art facility, costing £30 million, reflects the dedication of London North West University Healthcare Trust to delivering exceptional care and support to our communities. The Diagnostic Centre represents a significant enhancement in health services for local residents, particularly those with potential heart issues. It offers a comprehensive range of essential tests all within one unit, allowing patients to be referred by their GP for multiple assessments at once, resulting in quicker, less stressful diagnoses.
The unit was officially opened by Trust Chief Executive Pippa Nightingale, whose leadership helped make this centre of excellence in Ealing a reality, alongside the key team at the Trust. Heartlink, in partnership with the British Heart Foundation, is providing heart health information and booklets in the new Centre, as well as in the Hospital Cardiology Department. Our amazing volunteers are on hand at our Information Desks every Monday, highlighting the teamwork and community spirit that drive our heart mission forward.
Warm welcome at Greenford Mandir
A team of our wonderful Heartlink volunteers made a big impact amongst the hundreds attending the Shree Jalaram Mandir and Community Centre in Greenford on 10th October. We were made very welcome by the Mandir, particularly Dr Mansukh Morjaria of the Trustees, and we were given an opportunity to address everyone in the Prayer Hall. We explained about the role of Heartlink in the local community, what people can do to address the risks posed by heart disease, and particularly the opportunity for smokers to give up by getting help from Ealing Council's new Smokefree Service.
Many of the attendees came and talked to us at our information desk in the downstairs hall and lots of them told us they will use the Smokefree Service themselves or encourage friends or family to use it. All of our volunteers were invited to have some of the delicious food served in the hall.
Heartlink campaigns at Jubilee Gardens
Heartlink ran a highly successful public stall at Jubilee Gardens Health Centre in North Southall on Thursday 24th October. The Centre contains a Library and two GP surgeries. The event was a fantastic experience. We received a great response from the general public, who showed a lot of interest and enthusiasm. A good number of those who we saw were interested in the Smokefree Service and took leaflets for themselves or family members The event was well-organised, and it was wonderful to see so many people engaging and participating. Overall, it was a successful half day that left us feeling very positive about the impact we made.
Stall, speech and blood pressure checks
Heartlink made a big impact at the huge Sikh remembrance event for Sant Isher Singh Barsi in Northolt over the weekend of 7th & 8th September.
Our lively stall was visited by many of the attendees for advice about heart health and to learn what we do to help heart patients. Many took leaflets for the new Ealing Smokefree Service, which helps people quit smoking to improve their heart and general health.
On Saturday, hundreds of worshippers in the main tent were addressed by HeartlLink Trustee Dr Harmandeep Singh. He explained how living a healthy lifestyle accords with Sikh beliefs and reduces heart risks. His speech was broadcast internationally and there was a great response from the audience.
On Sunday we were joined by colleagues from Ealing Hospital and Northolt Seventh Day Adventist Church who spent the afternoon giving a queue of attendees blood pressure and BMI checks and basic health advice.
Our particular thanks to the 20 Heartlink members and supporters who ran the stall over the course of the weekend, Doctor Harmandeep Singh for his speech and members of the local Seventh Day Adventist church for their expert help.
Our volunteers enjoyed a selection of delicious food and snacks over the two days. 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
Know your heart medications
Heartlink was privileged to get an informative and highly relevant presentation about common HEART MEDICATIONS from Dr Karagiannis at our July 4th Meeting. Despite it being Election Day, we had a great turnout of 50 members and supporters. Dr Karagiannis is a highly experienced Consultant Cardiologist at Hillingdon Hospital and at the Transplant Department, Harefield Hospital.
He explained in a very clear and easy to understand manner the difference between medications that extend our lifespan, and those that reduce symptoms and give us a better quality of life. He concentrated particularly on medications to address heart failure, those given after heart attacks and heart surgery, medications to tackle the high levels of cholesterol and those for irregular heartbeat and AF. He outlined the most common medications for each of these, their purpose and when they are used. In some cases cardiologists have to try different but similar medications on a patient to obtain the best result.
He then spent 45 minutes dealing with a lot of detailed questions from our members, who widely viewed the session as one of our best.
Chair yoga and Health Checks at the Hub
At the July 2024 session of the Heartlink Community Hub, over 40 members and supporters enjoyed one of our regular lively chair yoga sessions led by the popular Mr Chana. After a break for drinks and snacks, we were joined by a team of young pharmacy staff from Southall Pharmacy on North Parade, Southall, who provided everyone with a blood pressure test and a BMI reading. This great offer was taken up by most people attending, many of whom are heart patients. Heartlink would like to thank Anish from Southall Pharmacy for organising this fantastic support and the team who attended: Maya, Nuria and Jas, who were assisted by students on work placement at the pharmacy. Attendees told us how much they appreciated this excellent afternoon session.
Packed meeting hears about stents and statins
A packed meeting of Heartlink members and supporters was rewarded by a hugely informative seminar given by Doctor Nabeel Ahmed, Consultant Cardiologist at Ealing Hospital and a regular and popular speaker. The meeting was held in the Lecture Theatre at Ealing Hospital on the evening of Thursday 6 June.
Doctor Nabeel gave us a fascinating and wide-ranging talk which he illustrated using a large-scale model of the heart.
He covered the topic of angiograms and the use of stents to treat patients who suffer from significant narrowing of the arteries around the heart. He explained the significant advances and improvements in effectiveness of stents themselves since they were first introduced in the 1990s. He outlined that, on occasion, the location of the narrowing of the arteries means that stents cannot be used and bypass surgery is a successful alternative.
He took us through the significant reduction in potential problems due to heart plaque for many patients as a result of their use of statins in recent years.
His presentation was followed by a busy question and answer session, which only ended due to time constraints.
Volunteers attend training on Cholesterol and Diet
25 Heartlink members and supporters took part in our latest training seminar on 25th July. The training, on ‘Cholesterol and diet’ was provided by Michaela Nuttall of ‘Learn with Nurses’, who is an expert trainer, a cardiac nurse and Chair of the Health Care Committee at Heart UK.
In a lively session, attendees learned about the different components that make up cholesterol and their impact on heart health. Despite many individuals’ cholesterol being influenced by inherited genetic factors, people can reduce their risk by modifying their lifestyle in terms of diet and exercise.
Michaela emphasised the importance of people having blood tests and being aware of their cholesterol numbers, to track them over time. She explained about the various medicines, such as statins, that can help improve these numbers. Later, she provided details of the foods and drinks which have a positive and negative impact on cholesterol levels. All attendees were given a British Heart Foundation book about healthy diet and two different booklets explaining the background to cholesterol.
The seminar was part of Heartlink's ongoing training offer to assist new (and existing) volunteers to understand key aspects of heart health so that they can become Community Health Champions and talk to and advise their own family, friends and community.
Further seminars on other key topics will be held in coming months – so please join us if you are interested.
Shree Ram Mandir welcomes Heartlink
A fantastic welcome awaited Heartlink and our Trustee Dr Harmandeep Singh when we visited the Shree Ram Mandir on Tuesday 14 May. Umesh Sharma and the Management Team of the Mandir, who are keenly aware of the high levels of heart problems amongst people in their community, wanted to give us the opportunity to explain how to reduce the risks, and the simple steps that people can take.
Dr Harman gave a clear and challenging explanation to worshippers in the main hall of the Mandir. Meanwhile Heartlink volunteers had been invited to set up a stall in the entrance so that attendees could select the advice and information they wanted.
Following on from this event, the Management Team from Shree Ram Mandir joined us at our 30th Birthday Celebration on 17th May and gave us a generous donation for our work.
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.
Heartlink Trustees give talks on heart health
Our Heartlink Trustees Dr Harmandeep Singh and Dr Amarjit Sethi between them visited three Southall and Ealing Gurdwaras (places of worship) in late October and early November, to give short talks to the congregations about how to reduce their risks from heart disease.
This forms part of our campaign to raise awareness about heart disease in the wider community.
On each occasion they were supported by a team of Heartlink members who ran a stall and talked to attendees as they arrived and afterwards. We gave out many leaflets and British Heart Foundation advice booklets and did our best to answer people’s questions about heart conditions and risks. The talks were very well received, and a good number of people asked for details about Heartlink & our activities.
The Gurdwaras were those on Western Rd and Havelock Rd, Southall and Drayton Bridge Road, Ealing.
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.
Hospital Chiefs welcome Heartlink as partner
A well-attended Heartlink meeting at Ealing Hospital on 2nd March heard Pippa Nightingale, Chief Executive of the NHS Trust which includes Ealing Hospital, and Nigel Stephens, Director of Cardiology for the Trust, talk about plans for the Hospital and the Trust, and respond to areas of concern raised by members.
There are exciting plans to open a new ‘Integrated Diagnostic Hub’ at the Hospital in coming months. This new facility will deliver a huge improvement to services for the public and will also address a major area of concern raised by many members. In future, patients will visit the new hub and be able to have a range of diagnostic tests such as MRIs, CT scans, blood tests etc. on a single visit, hugely speeding up the diagnostic process for patients and avoiding multiple visits.
It is hoped that the implementation of a new digital care record system in the Trust, as part of a national initiative, will help tackle problems about access to patients’ own records, including to test results, and end the confusing use of different hospital numbers by adopting the person’s NHS number.
We raised the problems many members have with digital communications from the Trust, such as appointment and consultation letters, emails and texts, which require modern technology to read, which they cannot use.
Heartlink voiced their appreciation of staff in Cardiology and across the Trust and the commitment they show to patients and local communities.
Both the Chief Executive and the Director of Cardiology voiced their strong support for the work that Heartlink does and said that they want to welcome us into the Hospital to support cardiology patients, many of whom need the support we provide. They stated that they see us as a key partner, helping them to shape services for local patients in the future.
Heartlink Trustee Professor Rosen, Senior Cardiologist at Ealing, thanked them for their support and attendance and said that the meeting was a big step forward in our working relationship with the Trust.
Our thanks to everyone who attended and particularly to Ben Jackson, Cardiac Cath Lab Superintendent Radiographer for helping to set up the meeting.
Pippa Nightingale, Trust Chief Executive, speaking at the meeting.