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Leading charity Cardiac Risk in
the Young, is launching the final stop of their national postcard campaign,
bringing the tragedy of preventable sudden cardiac death in the young (YSCD)
home to MPs. Over 400 young people a year die from this treatable condition.
The postcards are addressed to MPs with the aim of bolstering support for the
CRY All Party Parliamentary Group and to raise awareness about the tragic and
preventable loss of life.
Eight families from Scotland
have allowed pictures of their own tragedies to be used on the postcards,
combating YSCD in Scotland. The cards carry the message that 8 young people
are dying unnecessarily each week of these heart conditions. The campaign will
also be central to the continuation of CRY’s influential lobbying activity.
The reverse of the postcard will be addressed to the constituency MP and have
a printed message requesting their help. CRY hopes to rally support from MPs
and MSPs in the Scottish Parliament by requesting that people send their
postcards to their local MP.
The Scottish postcard campaign
commences with a prestigious launch at Scottish Parliament on Thursday 8th
March. All the families who agreed to share their own tragedies to help CRY
are hoping to attend the launch along with CRY’s Scottish Patron Gregor
Townsend MBE. Scotland's bereaved families, MPs and MSPs have been
invited to attend. The postcard campaign has been running since 2004 and CRY
has successfully targeted the other 11 regions in the UK, using 8 different
photographs on each occasion.
Alison Cox, chief executive of
CRY said: “This is a national campaign and has been launched in all other
regions of the UK including Wales and Northern Ireland. We now want those
affected by these conditions, both the bereaved and those diagnosed or with
symptoms, to learn about CRY’s work and how we can support them."
The postcard campaign in other
parts of the UK has helped CRY reach a significant number of MPs; over 100,000
postcards have been printed and sent to MPs by CRY supporters to date. This
has helped the Cardiac Risk in the Young All Party Parliamentary Group grow
from 7 to 101 members – a truly spectacular achievement which symbolises the
power and momentum that CRY is building.
CRY’s postcard
campaign for Scotland coincides with the second anniversary since NSF Chapter
8 on arrhythmia and sudden cardiac death was introduced by the NHS. The aim is
to keep the spotlight on young sudden cardiac death following the introduction
of Chapter 8 and ensuring that these unnecessary tragedies are brought to an
end.
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