News archive - 2008

18th December 2008
Grand Christmas Draw 2008
The first prize of £500 was won by Gerry Whiteley, and the second prize (a session in the SouthWest Trains driver training simulator) was won by Philip Smith. The draw raised some £6,900 for the Charity.

18th December 2008
Hook Bowling Club has donated £2,345 to Cardiac Rehab, having made it their chosen charity during the 2007 and 2008 seasons.

15th December 2008
Marathon Cycle Ride Donation
Intrepid Alton cyclist (and Cardiac Rehab exerciser) Les Causton presented the Charity with a cheque for £4,000 today, in the presence of Alton Town Mayor Atul Patel. Les completed a 2,300km sponsored bike ride to southern Spain earlier this year to raise money for Breast Cancer Care and Cardiac Rehab. Gift Aid will add a further £1,000 to the sum received.

26th November 2008
Old Farnhamians (ex-pupils of Farnham Grammar School) donated £400 to Cardiac Rehab following Dr Hugh Bethell's talk to them on 29th October on the benefits of exercise.

31st October 2008
Cardiac Rehab Lecture 2008
Over 110 people enjoyed a scholarly lecture by author of Victorian history Hugh Small on the subject of Florence Nightingale - Misunderstood Reformer at Alton Maltings Centre on 30th October. The audience enjoyed wine and canapes beforehand. The event will have raised about £3,200 for Cardiac Rehab.

28th October 2008
Basingstoke Street Collections
Despite the "credit crunch" our intrepid teams of collectors raised £540 at Sainsbury's, Hatch Warren on 4th October and £620 in Festival Place on 25th October. Many thanks both to our collectors and to our donors!

27th October 2008
ThermoFisher Scientific of Basingstoke have donated £250 to Cardiac Rehab.

6th October 2008
The Wives Group of St Mary's Church, Bentworth have donated £525 to Cardiac Rehab, being the proceeds from an open garden event and lunch.

29th September 2008
Trial Primary Care Service
Cardiac Rehab plans to trial a new service, to provide exercise and health education sessions for people who are at high risk of heart disease (but who have not yet developed it). The new service will use the same set of skills that we apply to cardiac rehabilitation. The trial will be carries out in conjunction with East Hampshire District Council and local GPs.

29th September 2008
New Corporate Branding Launched
The Autumn Newsletter saw the launch of Cardiac Rehab's new corporate branding (now extended to this website) - the "caring hands" motif representing the partnership between the charity and our clients to improve the health of their hearts. The old, much-loved "Hearty" figure will be retained as the charity's mascot, for use in more informal settings.

15th September 2008
Rehab Ramble 2008
Well done those hardy souls who braved the very wet conditions on Sunday 7th September to walk the 6 mile course through Chawton Park Woods and beyond. We will raise a total of about £1,000 from this event. Special thanks to members of Alton Heart Support Club for setting out and marshalling the route.

12th August 2008
Alton Street Collections
The public very kindly donated to us £560 and £515 at our Alton street collections in the town centre (26th July) and outside Sainsbury's (9th August) respectively.

22nd July 2008
Shalden Horticultural Society has donated £250 to Cardiac Rehab from the proceeds of the recent Shalden Village Fete.

21st July 2008
Alton Beer Festival has donated £500 to Cardiac Rehab from the profit of its summer festival. This is in addition to the £535 that cardiac Rehab collected in donations from attendees at the event on 31st May.

15th July 2008
100 Club Award - Alan Cook
Yesterday Alan Cook, who runs the Cardiac Rehab 100 Club, received a CommunityFirst East Hampshire award for being an outstanding volunteer, presented by Alton Town Mayor Atul Patel. Alan has run the 100 Club since its inception in 1994, raising over £32,000 for the Charity in the process.

4th July 2008
Iron Woman
Cardiac Rehab exercise instructor Sandra Letford has raised £4,300 for the Charity (sponsorship plus Gift Aid) from her successful taking part in the Florida Half Iron Man competition on 18th May. The event comprised a 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile bike ride and a 13.1 mile run without a break!

26th June 2008
Grand Summer Draw 2008
The first prize of £500 was won by V Wills, and the second prize (a flight in a Tiger Moth) was won by D Gebbett. The draw raised some £6,500 for the Charity.

23rd June 2008
Computer Era reaches Cardiac Rehab Gym
Cardiac Rehab's customer database has been extended to the gym area with the help of a donation of £590 from the Alton Heart Support Club to pay for a new laptop computer and network cabling. The new facility will allow the instructors to ditch their voluminous files full of dog-eared paper exerciser records!

16th June 2008
Plant Food & Gift Fair, 7th June
A beautiful sunny Saturday in June saw Cardiac Rehab take over the pretty gardens of Alton Convent to stage a plant, food & gift fair. There were over 35 stalls selling everything from jewellery to cakes, and from exotic plants to woodcraft. About £2,000 will have been raised for the Charity from the event.

13th June 2008
Elvetham Masonic Lodge has very kindly donated £1,000 to Cardiac Rehab.

2nd June 2008
Folk Music evening
Exerciser Brenda Barnard organised a very enjoyable evening of folk music at Queen Mary's College, Basingstoke, on 26th April, raising £340 for the Charity.

14th May 2008
Basingstoke & North Hampshire NHS Foundation Trust has donated £1,500 to Cardiac Rehab from the profits of its Christmas 2007 charity pantomime.

14th May 2008
Fashion Show
Per Una (Marks & Spencer, Alton branch) held a fashion show at the Grange Hotel at which £295 was collected for Cardiac Rehab.

13th May 2008
Four Marks Golf Club has donated to Cardiac Rehab £480 profit from a golf day held for the benefit of the Charity.

5th May 2008
Phase IV breaks the 20,000 barrier
For the year ending 30th April 2008 the number of Phase IV attendances at exercise sessions broke the 20,000 mark for the first time. This represented a 1,200 increase on the figure for the year ending 30th April 2007.

1st May 2008
Mayor's Charity
New Alton Town Mayor (and Cardiac Rehab graduate) Atul Patel has nominated us as one of his mayoral charities (alongside the Salvation Army) for his year in office (2008/09).

30th April 2008
New Phase IV classes introduced
Cardiac Rehab has introduced a new intermediate level class at Monday lunchtime, a new early morning advanced level class on Fridays, and a three hour independent exercise session on Saturday mornings (the first weekend opening of the Centre). With the growing number of Phase IV attendances, the new sessions will give more capacity and choice to our users.

29th April 2008
London Marathon 2008
Joanna Curtis (Mrs General Manager) ran this year's London Marathon on 16th April for Cardiac Rehab. Her time was 3hr 45mins and she raised £2,900 for the Charity in sponsorship and Gift Aid.

28th April 2008
Marathon UK - Spain Cycle Ride
On Saturday 26th April Les Causton, an exerciser at Cardiac Rehab, set out on his bike from the Cardiac Rehab Centre, bound for southern Spain - a 2,300km cycle ride. Les is raising money for Cardiac Rehab and Breast Cancer Care. You can still sponsor Les by visiting his website www.altonantequeraappeal.com

1st April 2008
Berkshire Granfers Bowling Association has donated £500 to Cardiac Rehab at the instigation of one of their opponents, Longmeadow Bowls Club.

31st March 2008
Reading Half Marathon 2008
Cardiac Rehab exercise instructor Jan Osborne ran the Reading Half Marathon for the Charity on 2nd March and she raised £725 in sponsorship and Gift Aid.

17th March 2008
The Rotary Club of Odiham and Hook has donated £400 to Cardiac Rehab.

6th February 2008
The staff of Eli Lilley & Co. in Basingstoke have raised £305 for Cardiac Rehab.

5th February 2008
Race Night 2008
About £2,200 was raised at the Cardiac Rehab Race Night on 1st February. This was a riotous evening, with about 100 people at the centre getting very excited about betting on filmed horse races. Many thanks to Jerry Janes for acting as auctioneer and David Gay for running the films.

1st February 2008
Closure of Basingstoke Charity Shop
Cardiac Rehab's shop in London Street, Basingstoke closed on 31st January. Despite the best efforts of staff and volunteers (to whom we extend our many thanks) the shop had not been profitable for some time. With increasing low price competition in the town the future was not promising. Our shop in Market Street, Alton continues to trade as normal.

15th January 2008
Cardiac Rehab Golf Society has donated £2,000 to the Charity to pay for the rebuilding of essential storage areas in the Centre.

9th January 2008
The Christmas Grand Draw 2007 has raised £4,850 for the Charity.