About the Shropshire Blood Pressure Checks Project
The Shropshire Blood Pressure Checks Project hosts between 20-30 pop ups each month across Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, with an aim to raise awareness of the symptoms and risks of cardiovascular disease (CVD) within high-risk local communities. The Blood Pressure Checks Project is funded by NHS England and proudly delivered by Qube and Shropshire Council.
Who can be a Shropshire Community Blood Pressure Check volunteer?
Anyone can be a volunteer! If you’re engaged and friendly, with a passion to help improve health conditions for your local community, becoming a Shropshire Community Blood Pressure Check volunteer may be for you.
We’re looking for people from all communities, ages, ethnicities and backgrounds. Maybe you have worked in health care in the past, or have lived experience of high blood pressure. However no previous experience is required, as full training will be provided.
What does a Shropshire Community Blood Pressure Check volunteer do?
Our brilliant volunteers are trained to encourage the sensitive and respectful discussion and sharing of knowledge about cardiovascular disease (CVD), what the risk factors are and what action can be taken to reduce them.
Volunteers provide reassuring detail and guidance on what a blood pressure check involves, deliver checks, and sign post people to their local GP or community pharmacist where appropriate.
A few words from Jo Longetti, the Blood Pressure Champion Coordinator
The project launched last August with a pilot popup at Qube in Oswestry. Thanks to the excellent response from the various communities around Shropshire, we have organised popups in all the major towns and even ventured into smaller more rural villages and smaller towns, offering blood pressure checks to people who would normally not have access to primary care services in their local area. I have enjoyed training and working with the volunteers and am proud to say we now number over 30. I am always touched by their enthusiasm and dedication.
Another great part of my job is hearing from people who have used the service and have been alerted to the need to investigate their blood pressure result further by accessing the 7 day monitoring at their GP or community pharmacy. They are always full of praise for the service and particularly the relationship with the volunteers.
In our second year we hope to continue to broaden the project to include more marginalized groups, and have already started working with RESET who offer a mobile health checking service for rough sleepers around the county.
If you are interested in becoming a volunteer or would like to know more about the project, or would like to know where popups are planned in your area of Shropshire, please get in touch! Call 01691 656882 or email jo.longetti@qube-oca.org.uk
Training & Events
We will be running a number of Blood Pressure Champion training events over the coming months, we are just securing dates, times and venues and will update the website with more information as soon as we have it.
Blood Pressure Checking Project Newsletter
