CRY Heart Screening

Our mission

We have made a commitment as a school community to ensure that all of our students have access to ECG and Echocardiogram screening, which is a simple way to diagnose most cardiac abnormalities. We are committed to doing this for each Y11 cohort in future (the minimum age for screening is 14).

CRY’s mission is to identify those that are at risk from sudden cardiac death. Sudden death syndrome is an umbrella term for the many different causes of young sudden cardiac death. These conditions include thickening of the heart muscle or an abnormal structure of the heart, and irregularities of the impulses that control the rhythm of the heart. Youngsters involved in sport, in particular, stress their heart the most and if they have an underlying cardiac abnormality, they are more likely to be at risk. It is important to emphasise that exercise is NOT harmful and sport itself does not cause cardiac arrest, but can exacerbate an undetected condition.

At a screening, your son/daughter will receive an electrocardiogram (ECG) that examines the electrical activity of the heart, and if required, an echocardiogram, as well as a physical examination. The ECG is a simple, non-invasive and painless test that will only take a few minutes to complete and is performed by qualified cardiac physiologists. The ECG results will be examined by a doctor in conjunction with a personal and family history questionnaire, and if a more detailed picture is needed some individuals will be required to undertake a follow-up echocardiogram. This is an ultrasound scan of the heart that looks at its size, structure and blood flow and takes about 30 minutes to perform. All results suggesting an abnormality will then be passed to CRY Consultant.

Fundraising

Each screening costs the School £6,800.00, and it is important that all students try to raise money for our screening programme during their time at the School.  We have an annual sponsored walk which is an ideal opportunity to raise money, but students and the wider community have already started to raise significant amounts of money which will enable us to fund screenings in future years.

Here are a few examples:

Climbing Pikes Peak, the Rocky Mountains, Colorado.

Izaac, one of our current students,climbed Pikes Peak over the summer to raise money for our screenings. So far he has raised over £1000.  

Please visit Izaac's fundraising page:

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/rocky-mountains-challenge-for-cry

Running the West Highland Way

Ellen, one of our ex-students, has completed the West Highland Way, a 96 mile route from Milngavie to Fort William, to raise money for cardiac risk in the young (CRY). This is in memory of her school friend Charlie Craig, who sadly died in January 2017. Charlie was an amazingly talented cyclist and a fantastic funny friend of Ellen’s , who lived every single day to the full with a smile on his face. His attitude and enthusiasm to his sport and life has inspired Ellen to challenge herself and raise money in the process for CRY.

 

 

Please visit Ellen's Justgiving page here 
 

Bamford Golf Club

Mike McViegh used is Captaincy year at Bamford Golf Club to raise money to fund our heart screening programme.  This included playing a hole at 25 golf courses in a single day, and a special evening event.  Mike raised over £11,000, an incredible achievement.

Clay Pigeon Shooting

During the summer, a clay pigeon shooting event was held in memory of Jake Birkinshaw, one of our ex-students. It was hosted by Quarry Simulated Game and Sporting Clays Chesterfield, a club that Jake had attended since a young age. The event included a raffle, for which many prizes were donated. The money raised totalled £1,070, an incredible amount which has been donated to Hope Valley College to contribute towards our heart screening program.