Sheffield sports venue puts their heart into fitness

The UK’s first Cardiac Olympics is set to take place in Sheffield this week to help raise awareness of heart disease.

The Olympics will be held at Concord Sports Centre on Friday, February 26, which is national Wear it Red Day, created to raise money for the British Heart Foundation.

At Concord, coronary heart disease sufferers can compete in low impact, low intensity sporting activities.

Barbara Sharp from Sheffield City Council’s Activity Sheffield, which has helped organise the Olympics with Concord, said: “It’s a great initiative to get involved with, we’ve designed some sports events for people to try including curling, bowling and some target sports, so anyone of any ability can take part.

“Teams can have fun in a competitive sports environment, which many will not have been able to do for a number of years due to health problems.

The Olympic event is just one of a host of activities taking place at Concord Sports Centre on Friday. Visitors can get their blood pressure and cholesterol levels tested by Lloyds chemists and see how the Heart Support Group services run at the centres can help them.

They can try Concord’s unique cardiovascular ‘Hearty Circuits’ fitness class at 11am, which is designed especially for people over 50-years-old or with medical conditions. An optional £1 extra donation will go to the British Heart Foundation charity.

Later in the day there is also an old school sports day for Concord’s partners to take part in and raise money for the charity.

Dave Birds, fitness specialist at Concord, which is operated by Sheffield International Venues (SIV), said: “We wanted to hold an event to highlight the importance of activity for people with heart disease.

“Activity can reduce the risk of heart problems by as much as 50 per cent, and what better way to promote it than through a series of activities held on the day dedicated to the nation’s hearts. People can get together, have a laugh, and raise a bit of money for charity.”

To take part in the events please contact Dave Birds at Concord Sports Centre on 0114 2574426.