Each year, over 130,000 people in the UK have a stroke and someone has a heart attack every two minutes. These shocking statistics mean that there are large numbers of people suffering the effects of cardiovascular disease and coping with the challenge of getting their life back.
Thrive has recently been awarded significant funding by The Department of Health to develop a gardening programme specifically for people recovering from stroke and heart disease.
Cath Rickhuss, Project Manager at Thrive, comments: “I’m so pleased that we’ve been awarded funding. This innovative project will show people recovering from stroke or coping with heart disease how to use their own garden to build up their strength, overcome some of their physical problems and literally get part of their life back.”
Called ‘Just 30!’ the project will focus on the essential 30 minutes of exercise a day that will help recovery and rehabilitation. Thrive will produce a pocket guide giving advice, information and step-by-step activities to show how gardening can help. The pocket guide will be available early in 2008 and we are currently collecting advice and information from health professionals, stroke and heart patients and representatives from the Stroke Association and the British Heart Foundation.
* Source: British Heart Foundation and The Stroke Association