Press Release

Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) launches hard hitting postcard campaign in Scotland, highlighting tragedy of young sudden cardiac death

8 March 2007

Leading charity Cardiac Risk in the Young, is launching the final stop of their national  postcard campaign, bringing the tragedy of preventable sudden cardiac death in the young (YSCD) home to MPs. Over 400 young people a year die from this treatable condition. The postcards are addressed to MP’s with the aim of bolstering support for the CRY All Party Parliamentary Group and to raise awareness about the tragic and preventable loss of life.

Eight families from Scotland have allowed pictures of their own tragedies to be used on the postcards combating YSCD in Scotland. The cards carry the message that 8 young people are dying unnecessarily each week of these heart conditions. The campaign will also be central to the continuation of CRY’s influential lobbying activity. The reverse of the postcard will be addressed to the constituency MP and have a printed message requesting their help. CRY hopes to raleigh support from MP’s and MSP’s in the Scottish Parliament by requesting that people send their postcards to their local MP.

The Scottish postcard campaign commences with a prestigious launch at Scottish Parliament on Thursday 8th March. All the families who agreed to share their own tragedies to help CRY are hoping to attend the launch along with CRY’s Scottish Patron Gregor Townsend MBE. Scotlands’ bereaved families, MP’s and MSP’s have been invited to attend. The postcard campaign has been running since 2005 and CRY has successfully targeted the other 11 regions in the UK, using 8 different photographs on each occasion. 

Alison Cox, chief executive of CRY said: “This is a national campaign and has been launched in all other regions of the UK including Wales and Northern Ireland.  We now want those affected by these conditions, both the bereaved and those diagnosed or with symptoms to learn about CRY’s work and how we can support them
The postcard campaign in other parts of the UK has helped CRY reach a significant number of MP’s; over 100,000 postcards have been printed and sent to MP’s by CRY supporters to date. This has helped the Cardiac Risk in the Young All Party Parliamentary Group grow from 7 to 101 members – a truly spectacular achievement which symbolises the power and momentum that CRY is building.

CRY’s postcard campaign for Scotland coincides with the second anniversary since Chapter 8 on arrhythmia and sudden cardiac death was introduced by the NHS. The aim is to keep the spotlight on young sudden cardiac death following the introduction of Chapter 8 and ensuring that these unnecessary tragedies are brought to an end.