Heartbeat Sunraysia Celebrates 40th Anniversary

On September 5th Heartbeat Sunraysia celebrated 40 years of providing cardiac peer support and helping to improve heart health across the community.

Invitations, organised by Secretary Elaine Gregory, were sent out a few weeks prior, and Phil Sedgman spoke with radio station 1467 a couple of weeks before the event.  Then on the day, both Christine Rees and Gail Newton did live interviews with ABC radio.  There was also coverage in the Sunraysia daily, prior to and after the celebration, which was fantastic. Thanks to Katrina Umback for her support.

On the morning of the celebration it was all hands on deck to set up the activity room at the “Princes Court Village”.  A lovely display table included a mixture of information – previous minutes and newspaper articles & photos of the past 40 years, that was put together by member Patsy.  Job well done.  Thank you also to the Baker Institute for providing educational materials and a selection of athletic clothing.  Chemist Warehouse also provided a beautiful door prize, which was very generous.

The celebration was attended by just over 50 people who enjoyed an afternoon of heart health information, followed by a lovely afternoon tea.

Guest speakers included:

• Gail Newton (Treasurer Heartbeat Sunraysia) – History of Heartbeat, with Heartbeat Sunraysia being the first country branch in Victoria.
• Elaine Gregory –(Secretary Heartbeat Sunraysia) – A carer’s role and the importance for the need of support.
• Jacob McEwan (Ambulance Victoria) – The difference between a heart attack and cardiac arrest.
• Emma Bath (Ramsay Health) – The establishment of a new cardiac unit at the Mildura Base Hospital.
• Professor Rebecca Ritchie (Heartbeat Victoria Board member and researcher) – The challenges in research in cardiac health.
• Christine Rees (President, Heartbeat Victoria) – What it is like to have heart disease and its challenges, and the importance of heart health checks.

The day was a fabulous celebration of the great work done by the Heartbeat Sunraysia over the past 40 years.  Many thanks to all members for their hard work in making the celebration a success, and to all those who attended.  Your support is greatly appreciated!