Wharfedale Cardiac Club

HISTORY

The Wharfedale Cardiac Club was formed in 1991 by Dr. K E Birkin, a former consultant at the Wharfedale Hospital, together with a small group of cardiac patients who were keen to continue exercising after completing the hospital rehab course. They were encouraged by hospital staff and offered accommodation in the physiotherapy unit at the hospital to set up and run their own group.

Initially there was only a handful of active members and by 1994 about a dozen attended the exercise sessions, which were then held once a week and were supervised by hospital staff. In the years since, numbers have grown steadily, with new members coming from referrals by local GPs, cardiac consultants and the Phase 3 cardiac rehabilitation programme as well as from responses to our leaflets and posters. Due to increased numbers, more exercise sessions were added and professionally qualified exercise instructors were engaged to lead the exercise sessions.

STATUS

For many years the Club has been affiliated to the British Heart Foundation and in 2013 the Club applied for Registered Charity status, which was granted.

MANAGEMENT

The Club is run entirely for the benefit of its members and its primary function is to provide exercise classes as described elsewhere in this website. As at February 2020 the Trustees and Committee are:

David Farrow (Trustee, Chair and Secretary)

Ben Jordan (Trustee, Deputy Chair/Deputy Secretary)

Peter Horrocks (Treasurer)

Gerald McGowan (Assistant Treasurer)

Judith Davies (Trustee, Membership Secretary)

John Hammond (Trustee)

Sandra Bolton

​Nigel Bolton

​Tom Rhodes

DONATIONS OF EQUIPMENT

The Club is independent of the NHS and is very fortunate to have use of the Physiotherapy Gym at the Wharfedale Hospital for its exercise sessions. This includes use of the exercise equipment in the gym. Over the years the Club has been able to make donations of new exercise equipment to the Hospital, most recently in 2016 when the Club provided new, professional standard equipment comprising a treadmill, a rowing machine and a cross-trainer, to replace old equipment , which was by then worn out.

We have also been very fortunate to have further new equipment donated by our friends at Take Heart, the fantastic charity which is based at the Yorkshire Heart Centre in Leeds General Infirmary and does so much great work in support of cardiac patients and their families.