Heartbeat

Melanie Osborne
Corporate Communications Manager, Ordnance Survey
Ordnance Survey Headquarters, Southampton

"I think the positive note of the feedback from staff reflects the interest, success and heightened awareness the afternoon achieved. I think that the donation for the tests and advice is very reasonable and that made people feel they were giving money to a good cause. I hope more companies get involved it's a great service and so important!"

Clare Francis
Welfare Officer, Barton Peveril College
Barton Peveril College, Eastleigh

"I would recommend that any company gets involved in undertaking the Healthy Heart Session for the benefit of their employees"

Lisa Hall
Business Information Manager, Southampton & Fareham Chamber of Commerce & Industry

"When you are busy at work and under pressure you sometimes neglect or forget about your health unless you have some obvious symptoms. As an employee I found it really useful to have a quick check by Wessex Heartbeat. This did not impact on my working day as they came to me. I knew exactly how my health rated with regards to silent problems such as diabetes, cholesterol, blood pressure and their associated problems".

Nicky Hirst
Public Affairs Officer, Southampton & Fareham Chamber of Commerce & Industry
Southampton & Fareham Chamber of Commerce & Industry

"Having healthy employees and reducing staff sickness is a high priority both for staff welfare and business efficiency. The opportunity for our team to have these tests was appreciated by all and 100% of our staff volunteered to take part. Several of the team have now started doing things as a result of the test including cycling to work and more healthy eating. I would recommend this process to all employers"

Maureen Frost
Chief Executive of Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce
Regional Business Centre in Havant

"My staff and I were delighted to be asked to take part in this Healthy Heart campaign. I am pleased that all who took part reported back that nothing to serious was detected and that only very slight changes to their diets and lifestyles was advised in order to keep their hearts healthy and beating. I rarely visit my GP and so a scheme like this means that I had the opportunity without making a special effort to check on the performance of my heart and whether my lifestyle might benefit from some small changes."

Keith Cromar
Director of the Lymington Community Association
Lymington Community Centre

"Having the Wessex Heartbeat people in for the Healthy Heart session brought home to our presenters and listeners how simple it is to find out key indicators of our health and they gave simple and easy to understand steps towards living a healthier lifestyle"

Simon Gibbons
Community Manager at Express FM 93.7
Express FM studios in Portsmouth

"We are obviously firm supporters of the Wessex Heartbeat 'Healthy Heart' campaign and it was fantastic to see the Wessex Team in action with my staff. At first there was an air of concern and I frequently heard, 'I'd rather not know if there's something wrong with me!' Once the Wessex nurses got underway and the staff realised that this was not a full health check but a 5 minute snap shot of one's health, we ended up running out of time as so many staff wanted to have it done. The nurses were 100% efficient and courteous and I would fully recommend this at anyone's business, no matter what size it is!"

Darren Cooper
Managing Director, Peter Cooper Volkswagen Group
Peter Cooper Volkswagen dealerships in Hedge End and Portsmouth

"I am sure a number of people put off looking at these types of tests as they are unsure of what they will show. However, having it done in the environment of the business group had an atmosphere of camaraderie and gave the process a far lighter note than maybe visiting the doctor to have it done. Thank you all for your time and the way you made it all a very easy and enjoyable experience."

Ian Mitchell
D B Associates
BNI Chichester breakfast meeting

"Our Men's health day was a tremendous success. With the expert help of Wessex Heartbeat our employees took part in took part in heart health risk assessments and quizzes to test their 'general health' knowledge and we received enthusiastic feedback. We are keen to promote the importance of keeping a healthy heart and hope to run similar events in the future."

Jeremy Crouch
General Manager SELEX Galileo, Southampton
Selex Galileo in Southampton

"There were no hiding places for Daily Echo staff when a team of nurses turned up to give workers a health MoT. Not even editor Ian Murray was safe as three cardiac rehabilitation sisters from Southampton General Hospital rounded up 20 staff for the impromptu health check. A new campaign, called Your Healthy Heart', was launched at the newspaper's headquarters by Southampton-based charity Wessex Heartbeat to improve the health of people across the south."

Ash Boulton
Reporter, The Daily Echo
(featured in The Daily Echo on 24th July 2008)
The Daily Echo offices in Southampton

"We are a caring organisation and like to take interest in our colleagues health, hence we took up the offer of this excellent free health check initiative. Wessex Heartbeat are a great local charity which I wanted to support, they undertake a great deal of valuable work in the community, more organisations should take up this initiative. The feedback we received back from the session was very encouraging and as one colleague commented ‘I tend to be rather undisciplined when it comes to making my own arrangements for health checks, and this results (or can result) in reactionary medical attention instead of preventative checks'"

Keith Hulbert
UKI Marine Occupational Safety & Health Manager, Lloyds Register
Lloyds Register offices in Southampton