THE North Gwent Cardiac Rehabilitation and Aftercare Charity has received a Big Lottery Wales Grant of £8,250 for their new ‘Cardiac Rehab Revamp’ project.

The charity provides 20 community exercise classes within Blaenau Gwent and Monmouthshire to people who have heart conditions. The classes give people, who have completed early Cardiac Rehabilitation, the option to increase and maintain their fitness in the long term. Long term exercise is an investment for future health.

The grant will provide much-needed new exercise equipment, support social sporting activities and up-to-date health information.

The project will be headed by Fundraising Co-ordinator Zara Lavender and Community Programme Co-ordinator/ Senior Fitness Professional Hassan Al-Kaabi.

Zara explained, “We’re absolutely ecstatic, this is a game-changing amount of money for us. Our ‘Cardiac Rehab Revamp’ project is important to the longevity of the classes and the work we do to help people with heart problems within our community.

“This grant means we will be able to replace old and broken equipment, provide information in the form of a Community Class Welcome Pack and support group exercise activities.

We believe this will truly make a difference in people’s lives and actively encourage people who’ve recently experienced a cardiac event to keep up exercise in the long term”

The North Gwent Cardiac Rehabilitation Charity was founded nearly 27 years ago by Dr Jacky Miles MBE.

Jacky said “We are extremely grateful to the Big Lottery Wales fund for giving us the opportunity to kick-off this Revamp project. This is a great opportunity for us and we look forward to seeing the benefit to people who attend our classes.”