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Wednesday 14 May 2014

Healthy heart charity CVRT and Hippocrates Initiative jointly launch Healthy Heart Poetry project by and for school children and young people

On behalf of the healthy heart charity the Cardiovascular Research Trust (CVRT), London-based poets Wendy French and Rebecca Goss will be editing a book of poems on the heart written by children for children of all ages. 
Entries are welcome from anywhere in the world from schools or individually from children and young people. 
Wendy said: “The aim is to bring to children, from an early age, awareness of the importance of keeping the heart healthy through diet and exercise. The idea for this came from a pilot poetry project in schools in and around London. Please do get your pupils writing! Our experience of this type of project in schools has shown that it can be very exciting both for pupils and teachers."
She added: "We would like as many children and older school students to enter as possible so we have a wide selection of poems to choose from. The book will be published in print and online by the Hippocrates Press for Poetry and Medicine. The book will be launched at a celebration in London on December 4th 2014, which children and older school students and their teachers will be invited to attend.”
The closing date for entries is 12 midnight GMT July 16th 2014.
Poems may be entered on-line (see the Hippocrates website link) or sent to
Wendy French at 4 Myton Road, West Dulwich, London, SE21 8EB. 
Wendy has a quiz devised by the CVRT on the heart and can email this with lesson plan suggestions to teachers who are interested.
Kidshealth also has very helpful facts to help get started on the project.
The book will be divided into four sections, selected poems by primary children, selected poems by secondary school students, and a section devoted to heart healthy recipes supplied by anyone of school age. 
Medical professor Donald Singer said: “This looks a very interesting way to engage children and young people actively in understanding ways to prevent heart disease. I will be adding a section in the book on how to keep the heart healthy so that book could be used in schools for teaching about health as well as just for pure enjoyment of the poems."
See YouTube videos of examples of Healthy Heart Poetry by schools from the 2013 CVRT Healthy Heart Awards:
You can read more about the Healthy Heart Poetry initiative on the Hippocrates website.
If you wish any further information or would like to help by involving your local school in the project, or in other ways, you can contact Wendy French on wendy.french6@btinternet.com 

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