Two years of Heart of West London | OneFootball

In August, Brentford FC marked two years of Heart of West London, the club’s partnership to make a difference in cardiac health.

An event was held at the Gtech Community Stadium to celebrate the two-year anniversary of the initiative.

Partners involved in Heart of West London (HoWL) - Brentford FC Community Sports Trust, Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals Charity, Cardiac Risk in the Young, Resuscitation Council UK and A-K-A Day - were among the 80 attendees present.

Attendees were able to learn about the progress of the partnership since it was first established.

Fans who have played a crucial role in fundraising for HoWL were also invited and given a stadium tour as thanks for their commitment. The money that has been fundraised by the club and donated by Bees fans goes to Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals charity to fund ground-breaking research in cardiac health.

Recently we also marked the six-year anniversary of the tragic loss of our former technical director, Robert Rowan who passed away aged 28 in November 2018 after suffering a fatal cardiomyopathy episode.

Robert’s death inspired the creation of HoWL two years ago and Brentford continues work in this area, with approximately 160,000 deaths caused by cardiac in the UK. Together we want to save lives.

Our work continues

We continue to fundraise so we can contribute to important research in this field. Through new official club partner, MatchWornShirt, shirts of Brentford players from all games will be auctioned and any money that the club receives from the auctions will be donated to Heart of West London.

Furthermore, the fundraising that has gone towards research in cardiac health is now underway by Dr Sabiha Gati, a consultant cardiologist at Royal Brompton Hospital. Dr Gati is aiming to conduct game-changing research that increases knowledge about cardiovascular disease in young adults and athletes. Through the research, Dr Gati hopes to increase awareness and find effective treatments for these groups.

Another important element of making a difference in cardiac health is raising awareness of how to conduct CPR. The Brentford FC Community Sports Trust and Resuscitation Council are working together to spread CPR awareness within the community sessions so we can educate more people on how to save a life.

Brentford FC director, Nity Raj said: “Heart of West London started out two years ago after our experiences as a club showed that cardiac health affects everyone. We continue to put our efforts into raising awareness of this, encouraging more people to learn life-saving CPR skills and encouraging young fans and employees to get a screening to detect any heart problems that may go unnoticed.

“We’re grateful to so many of our fans and staff who have helped Brentford FC raise money towards important research. We’ve been passionate about making a difference in this space and we’re very proud to be partnering with some organisations who are doing some crucial work in this area.”

Find out more about Heart of West London

If you would like to donate, please do so here: https://www.rbhcharity.org/Appeal/heart-of-west-london