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You are in: Home > About Us > Awareness Week

CHSS Awareness Week 5th - 11th October 2009

2009 marked an important anniversary for CHSS as it is 110 years since we founded so this year' s Awareness Week celebrated the birthday by inviting people to Step Out for Scotland and take more exercise – and have fun at the same time.

A host of imaginative ways were devised to encourage people to get active and the campaign also incorporated lots of events on the '110 theme' such as £1.10 bargain rails in all 20 of our shops.

The message was spread throughout the country with hundreds of Step Out for Scotland resource packs sent out to Volunteer Stroke Service (VSS) and Community Support Network groups, shops, health professionals and other supporters. Packs contained factsheets on exercise and the steps that everyone can take to improve their level of fitness.

Round up of events

• The week got off to a brisk, if wild and windy, start with the Dee Don Walkathon, a new event in Aberdeen organised by Paul Corrigan.
• The popular health walks from our shops were repeated and staff, volunteers and supporters from all the shops rallied round to spread the message about how easy it is to include exercise in your daily routine.



• The grand finale to the week was our biggest and best ever Forth Rail Bridge abseil which featured our favourite celebrity, 'Irn Bru' Jack Lowden, and had as its star attraction a wedding ceremony performed on the ropes. The happy couple, the aptly named Ellen McBride and Alex Harrison, tied the knot while dangling 165 feet in the air, all to raise funds for us!
• In the Highlands the Eastgate Centre in Inverness was host to a 110 themed event with games, 'Buttons and Bows' sale and a chance for local people to get their blood pressure checked.
• Our nurses also worked with staff at Scottish and Southern Energy in Inverness where 110 workers were offered blood pressure checks and put through their paces in a series of challenges in return for a £1.10 donation.
• Elgin VSS group held a 110 challenge event and a Wartime themed tea dance took place in Halkirk, Caithness.
• The Highland programme was rounded off with another event new to CHSS, the Cairngorm Charmer, a charming (!) 12 mile relay event in the Cairngorm National Park.
• In Banchory our local VSS group planted pansies in CHSS colours donated by the local garden centre, in tubs designed to reflect the 110th birthday theme.
• In Edinburgh our Advice & Support Dept organised a Ceilidh at the Royal Overseas League and raised £452.
• Lothian nurses and patients teamed up with local day centres for short walks.
• In Fife, Kirkcaldy VSS group marked their 5th birthday with a Step Out walk in their local park.
• Two members of Lothian Heart Failure Support Service decided to mark the 110 years since the establishment of CHSS in a very special way. During Oct 2009 Eadie Kinghorn and Dorothy McCann took 110 photographs of East Lothian's wonderful scenery on their trips out together.
• In Ayr an autumn concert and birthday celebration was held with all local VSS groups taking part.
• In Dumfries a tea dance and 110 celebration was held for all local stroke group members along with past and present members of local cardiac and pulmonary rehab groups.
• In Lanarkshire the Stroke MCN team organised a walk in Strathclyde Country Park for patients, carers and family members and HFSS's Alison Campbell joined them for the final leg of her own challenge, walking 110km around 7 parks within the region.
• In Glasgow the oldest cardiac rehab group in the West, the Jordanhill Hearties, celebrated its 25th anniversary with a joint party where participants, including veteran 93 year old member, took to the floor in a 110 person conga.

These are just some of the many activities which took place around the country. Thanks to everyone who worked so hard to help promote the Step Out for Scotland campaign.

CHSS historical timeline

This year we're marking an important birthday as it's 110 years since CHSS was founded. To mark this anniversary a historical timeline has been developed to map out important dates in CHSS's history. This timeline (see Related Documents) is part of a resource created for the Volunteer Stroke Service.

Many thanks to Elaine Taylor and Eileen Morrow for all their hard work during this project.