Oxfordshire Community Foundation is very pleased to be running a healthy hearts grants round. This funding, made available from Oxfordshire County Council, Public Health, aims to improve or maintain cardiovascular health, including raising awareness, increasing knowledge of the issues, and promoting positive behaviour, such as increased physical activity and reduced smoking. Grants between £2,000 and £25,000 are available.
There is a huge opportunity to make a difference in improving heart health, as the majority of heart disease cases are preventable. Behaviour such as smoking, physical inactivity, obesity and drinking at unsafe levels, can all be modified to help reduce a person’s risk of developing heart disease. Can you support your community in better understanding these risks?
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) causes a quarter of all deaths in the UK and is the leading cause of premature deaths in vulnerable people (those experiencing homelessness, with mental health conditions or who live in deprived areas). Here, smoking rates are between three and eight times higher than average. Could your project help discourage smoking or promote a smoke-free environment?
Heart disease is one of the conditions most strongly associated with health inequalities. Those in the most deprived communities are 30% more likely to have high blood pressure, the biggest single known risk factor for heart attack and stroke.
Residents in the ten most deprived wards across the county at most risk from heart disease
It has also been proven that heart disease and COVID-19 severity are interconnected, and share common underlying risk factors. People with pre-existing heart disease, diabetes, obesity or high blood pressure experience more severe outcomes, such as hospitalisation, ventilation and death from COVID-19. Can you encourage your community to engage in activities that improve their heart health?
If you are thinking about applying and have questions about what work is suitable for an application or just want to ensure you submit the best application, join our online workshop on Friday 4th February at 2pm.
In this 30 minute session, with the OCF grants team and a member of the grants panel from Public Health, we will give an overview of the grants round; review the application form and give tips on how to avoid common difficulties that lead to applications being rejected; look at how to select the right outcomes and indicators for your work. There will also be an open Q&A. You can register here for the workshop. Recordings of the session will be made available if you cannot attend so please register to receive a copy.
When else could the Healthy Hearts grants close than Valentine’s Day! Early applications are encouraged and the application page will close on Monday 14th February at noon.