Michelle and I between us had the stand at the gym from Tuesday through to Saturday. We weren’t able to man it for the full days but we were there for many hours.

Our display board and table was just inside the entrance to the gym opposite their café. It was therefore necessary for every visitor to pass by us, but we noticed that the majority just gave a cursory glance towards the desk then turned away. We then decided to hand out leaflets and try to explain why we were there rather than them approaching us – this was the suggestion of the manager at the gym.

As it was a really good location, but ultimately didn’t really generate a lot of interest, I wondered if the following suggestions would help.

Many people thought that the charity was the ‘British Heart Foundation’ and therefore, unless they had any prior knowledge, didn’t think the information applied to them. Maybe a large banner with Cardiac Risk in the Young would have drawn attention to the charity.
I think that the A4 poster ‘CRY Awareness Week’ would attract more attention if it was larger size.

It was also a thought that if there was a large poster listing the symptoms that a young person should be aware of that may indicate the need for a visit to the doctor, it may be eye catching. Then at least if people didn’t take the leaflets to read, the main point would have been made by the poster.

We had a few interesting conversations. One lady, a schools co-ordinator, was particularly interested and we directed her to the CRY website for more information. Another lady had some time ago pressed her doctor to do further tests on her young son of 7 as he had been fainting. As a result the boy is now being cared for by a cardiologist.

Barbara Ingerfield