On Wednesday October 15th CRY hosted its annual Parliamentary Reception at Westminster as part of its Raising Awareness Week. We were delighted to have new CRY Patron James Cracknell as guest of honour.
The event was attended by around 25 MPs who came to show their support for CRY’s campaigning. This was fewer MPs than in previous years, but – as ever – there were a number of other evening events taking place at Westminster at the same time, so we are very grateful to those MPs who did find the time to attend.
Other guests at the event were CRY supporters / families; CRY Surgery Supporters Club members; CRY Patrons Jeremy Bates (tennis), Ray Wilkins (football), Pat Jennings (football), Kathryn Harries (soprano), Roger Taylor (tennis) and Andy Scott (football); representatives from Philips; medical professionals; representatives from sporting organisations; CRY Trustees; CRY office and screening staff – and many others.
The event was hosted by Kevan Jones MP, Tim Loughton MP and Dr Vincent Cable MP, and alongside CRY’s postcard campaign re-launch, was one of the key events in CRY’s Raising Awareness Week.
There were a number of speakers at the event, including Andy Burnham MP (Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport); Dr Sanjay Sharma (CRY Consultant Cardiologist) and Ann Keen MP (Parliamentary Under Secretary for Health Services at the Department of Health).
James Cracknell was officially announced as a new CRY Patron, and he and Andy Burnham unveiled a large display board showing the signatures of many top sports people who have expressed their support for CRY’s proactive screening programme.
The signatures on the board are: Rob Andrew MBE; Jeremy Bates; Roger Black MBE; Chris Boardman; Sir Ian Botham OBE; Alan Campbell; Adrian Chiles; Clive Clarke; Mark Cox MBE; James Cracknell OBE; Tasha Danvers; Montell Douglas; Tony Doyle MBE; Nick Easter; Andrew Flintoff MBE; Darren Gough; Sally Gunnell OBE; Simon Halliday; Tim Henman OBE; Chris Hoy; Colin Jackson CBE; Pat Jennings OBE; Ally McCoist; Paula Radcliffe MBE; Sir Steve Redgrave CBE; Andy Scott; Professor Greg Whyte and Ray Wilkins MBE
The Reception received much positive feedback from those who attended, and it was a powerful reminder of the importance of CRY’s work, and the progress that CRY’s campaign is making.
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| Andy Burnham MP Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport |
James Cracknell OBE CRY Patron |
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| Dr Sanjay Sharma CRY Consultant Cardiologist |
Ann Keen MP Parliamentary Under Secretary for Health Services |
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| Andy Scott CRY Patron |
Caroline Gard CRY Supporter |
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| Dr Vince Cable MP Co-host of the Reception |
Professor Greg Whyte CRY Trustee |
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| Tim Loughton MP Co-host of the Reception |
Alison Cox MBE CRY Chief Executive |
