An application was received by West Lancashire Freemasons Charity requesting financial support from Heartbeat in Preston to purchase gym equipment to replace their worn-out old equipment that was past its best.
WLFC attended the premises and met with Dr Sally Seed PHD Head of Fundraising and Louise Bache the Chief Executive Officer of the facility to see how a difference the grant of £19,500 had made to the facilities.
Heartbeat is a fully stand-alone charity and receive no support from the British Heart Foundation, they have been in operation for over 40 years and their equipment is wearing out, some of it had been replaced and they had also been given some second-hand equipment which was not ideal and they are now also catering for people who have suffered strokes, so there is now a need for some specially adapted machines to assist these who have suffered from a stroke.
There were a large number of participants attending for their recovery treatment across the three rooms and gyms. The facilities offered along with the specialist staff in attendance on site make this one of the key sites for this kind of rehabilitation treatment within the Preston and wider Lancashire area and the wider community can and do benefit from this facility and can use it for the rest of their life. They are also able to undergo regular medical checks from the specialist staff saving many trips to the hospital which also frees up hospital appointments for the general public.
There are currently over one thousand people attending these sessions, the excellent care they receive offers a longer recovery time period than the 10 or 12 weeks courses the NHS provide. Speaking to the attendees on our visit it was made very clear that they are really appreciative of the excellent facilities and were delighted with their new machines.
Dr Sally Seed said that the WLFC really is a life saver. Heartbeat were overwhelmed with the £19,500 grant from WLFC enabling Heartbeat to purchase six new treadmills, three of which are rehab treadmills, these being a lower machine which are suitable for people recovering from strokes and Heartbeat were very proud to place a plaque in front of every machine that the WLFC supplied, to show the very generous support the WLFC have given to the facility.