Witney News - Put Your Heart Into It

Put Your Heart Into It

West Oxfordshire residents have the chance to ‘put their hearts into it’ and raise money for the Oxford Heart Centre at a series of fundraising events at District Council-owned leisure centres.

Leisure centres in Carterton, Chipping Norton and The Windrush, Witney, are hosting open days in support of the ‘Put Your Heart Into It’ campaign running this February to raise funds for the centre, based at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Headington. Bartholomew Sports Centre in Eynsham is also holding workout sessions in the gym to help raise money.

Nexus Community, which runs West Oxfordshire’s leisure centres on behalf of the District Council, has organised the fundraising events. It is the second year that the leisure centres have supported ‘Put Your Heart Into It’ and almost £8,000 was raised for the campaign at similar fundraising events in February last year.

Cllr Hilary Biles, the Council’s Cabinet Member for Leisure, Young People and Health, said: “Many residents from West Oxfordshire will either have been treated, or know someone who has been treated, by the Oxford Heart Centre and I hope people will take this opportunity to show their support. As well as raising funds for an extremely good local cause, this gives local people the chance to come along to the leisure centres and have some fun while being active, which is good for their own health and fitness.”

Different activities and taster sessions will run during the open weekends and anyone can take part. A small charge of £2 per adult and £1 per child will apply per activity, with all proceeds going to Oxford Heart Centre. Open days will be taking place as follows:

Chipping Norton Leisure Centre, Saturday 12 February – spinning bike challenges, ‘Tiger Tots’ baby and toddler play sessions (10am-12pm and 2-4pm), face painting, bouncy castle , cake stall, bric-a-brac, games and pool sessions. Call 01993 861951 for more details.
Carterton Leisure Centre, Saturday 19 February – Nordic walking and boccia taster sessions, swimming pool ‘floatarama’, Zumbatonic dance (Zumba for children), parent and child taster swim lessons, gym inductions, face painting, pilates, ‘aquafit’ for children, adult swimming sessions. Call 01993 861981 for information.
Windrush Leisure Centre, Witney, Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 February, 10am-4pm – Saturday is ‘adults day’ with sessions including circuit training classes, spinning classes, Zumba, gym inductions, swimming sessions, health checks, and free 7-day membership giveaways, with a crèche available from 11.15am-2pm. All sessions, except swimming, need to be booked in advance. Sunday is ‘family day’ with Zumbatonic dance for over-5s, rollerdisco, trampolining taster sessions, gymnastics taster sessions, bouncy castle, face painting, ‘Tiger Tots’ baby and toddler play session, mini football for under-5s and swimming sessions throughout the day. Some sessions need to be booked in advance. Call 01993 202020.

The ‘Put Your Heart Into It’ campaign is running throughout February to raise funds to enhance the Oxford Heart Centre, which opened in 2009.

Janet Sprake, fundraising manager for Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “We treat over 20,000 patients a year at the Oxford Heart Centre at the John Radcliffe Hospital as well as carrying out research of global importance. The support of the leisure centres and the local community will help to improve the healing environment and enable the development of new treatments.”

The campaign will help to fund extra facilities for patients including gardens, artwork and a gym as well as enabling the development of new treatments and new conference facilities to benefit students, patients and international research and training partnerships.

Ben Border, partnership manager for Nexus Community in West Oxfordshire, said: “Our leisure centres run cardiac rehab classes for people recovering from heart surgery or illnesses, some of whom have been treated at the Oxford Heart Centre, so we are very pleased to be supporting this campaign. We also know the benefits that exercise can bring in promoting health and reducing the risks of heart-related illnesses. I hope that this campaign will also help us to spread this message and that the open days will encourage more people to think about leading healthier lifestyles.”