THIS may be the first time Croí has been chosen as a beneficiary of the Achill Half-Marathon – but the charity’s association with the island stretches back for years. None
THIS may be the first time Croí has been chosen as a beneficiary of the Achill Half-Marathon – but the charity’s association with the island stretches back for years. Not long after Croí was formed in 1985, for the purpose of promoting heart health and improving cardiac services available to communities throughout the west of Ireland, Achill backed the initiative by setting up a committee of its own to support it. Each year, that committee hosts a whist drive and a sponsored walk in aid of Croí and sells its Christmas cards far and wide in the area. In light of this ongoing friendship between Achill and the charity, Neil Johnson, CEO of Croí, is particularly delighted that some of this year’s marathon proceeds will be earmarked for them. “Achill is a place with which we have a long association. In addition to it setting up one of the first committees to support us, it is also unique in having such a well-developed programme of training people in CPR and the use of a defibrillator,” he said. “And, of course, the marathon itself is a perfect tie-in, because it promotes cardiovascular fitness, which is one of the big areas we focus on. We have people running marathons for us all over the world but it is particularly nice for a local one to have chosen to support us this year.” The contribution will be a welcome boost in difficult times, especially for an organisation that relies almost entirely on fundraising efforts to maintain its wide range of services. And those services have evolved quite a bit in the 26 years since the charity’s inception. “Croí was born out of the particular needs of cardiac patients in the west of Ireland at the time. Access to diagnostics and treatment here was not on a par with the east coast and what we wanted to do initially was create a specialist centre west of the Shannon. That now exists in University College Hospital Galway and now we even have open heart surgery conducted here,” he explained. With this success under its belt, Croí set its sights on more community-focused initiatives – things like developing a rapid response ambulance service, educating people on methods (and lifestyle habits) of preventing heart problems, better rehabilitation facilities for those suffering from heart conditions and ways of minimising further problems for those who have experienced difficulties. There are other areas being developed also. “We are now beginning to work more and more on stroke care, as we recognise that many of the same issues are at play with stroke as with heart problems, and there are many of the same risk factors, especially blood pressure. We have certainly increased the profile of stroke care in recent months and we will be doing more of that in the coming months,” said the Galway-based Chief Executive. Rapid access to diagnostics remains a focus, while the organisation’s Heart Smart programme, a community-based initiative targeting individuals at high risk of heart disease, is also going from strength to strength. So Neil Johnson and his colleagues are looking forward to July 2 in Achill – and the prospect of furthering Croí’s ability to deliver its ambitious range of services by raising awareness of its existence and raising money. It lightens the load for what Johnson describes as essentially ‘a self-help organisation’. “It’s an absolute gift to have the organisers of the Achill Half-Marathon choose us as beneficiaries. With very little work on our part, we can get so much from it,” he concluded. To Register for this event please click here https://www.achillmarathon.com/ For further information on Croí, please visit www.croi.ie . By Denise Horan