THE University of Gloucestershire is providing free heart screening to its students, staff, and their family members as part of its Stop the Heartbreak campaign.

On Wednesday, April 30, the university will hold a heart screening day at its Oxstalls Campus in Gloucester in collaboration with the national charity Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY).

University students, staff and their family members aged between 14 and 34 will be able to undergo an electrocardiogram (ECG), carried out by CRY’s cardiac physiologists and assessed by one of its cardiology doctors. The screening is being jointly funded by the Stop the Heartbreak Campaign, which the University launched in 2013, and the Ashley Goodwin Memorial Fund.

Chief Executive of CRY, Dr Steven Cox, said: “To reiterate the impact, every week, 12 young, aged 35 and under, people in the UK die suddenly from a previously undiagnosed heart condition.

“In 80% of these cases, there will have been no signs or symptoms of a heart defect, which is why CRY believes screening is so vitally important, particularly for those involved in sport and regular, physical activity.”

Ashley Goodwin died suddenly from a previously undiagnosed heart condition in July 2007, the day after his 35th birthday and four weeks before completing his training to become a police officer.

For almost two decades, Ashley’s parents, Linda and Geoffrey, with the help of family, friends and the wider local community, have been supporting CRY’s work through fundraising and awareness and a determination to bring cardiac screening to young people in Gloucestershire. Since the launch of this joint initiative, over 1,000 young people have been screened.

Screenings like this can identify conditions such as heart muscle disorders of the heart in people who are not showing any symptoms of cardiac disorders.

More information can be found online.