Irish Heart Foundation Nominated by Laya Healthcare  

Leinster Rugby has announced the Irish Heart Foundation as its latest charity affiliate as part of the charity partner programme. The Irish Heart Foundation was nominated by Laya healthcare, a premium partner of Leinster Rugby.

It is estimated that every hour someone in Ireland suffers from a stroke, while hundreds more are diagnosed with heart disease every day.

The lives of these people are often cut tragically short or permanently changed. Almost 9,000 people die each year, making heart disease and stroke one of the nation’s biggest killers.

The Irish Heart Foundation works to prevent this, while also supporting and caring for people living with heart conditions and the effects of stroke​ and saving lives through CPR training.

For the month of August, Leinster Rugby will lend its digital support to the Irish Heart Foundation and its considerable efforts in trying to save lives and heal hearts.

“We in the Irish Heart Foundation are delighted that Leinster Rugby and Laya Healthcare have chosen us as a charity affiliate,” Head of Fundraising, Judith Gilsenan, told leinsterrugby.ie.

“Their generous support will help us to continue our work to prevent heart disease and stroke and to be there for everyone affected by these conditions.

“Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, we have seen a huge increase in demand for our supports from people living with the effects of heart disease and stroke around the country.

These people are at increased risk from Covid-19 and it’s imperative that we are there for them. Because every heart matters.”

The partnership would not have been possible without the support of Laya Healthcare and speaking on behalf of Laya, D.O. O’Connor, Deputy Managing Director, said, “As health and wellbeing partner to Leinster Rugby, we are so delighted to be supporting the Irish Heart Foundation during the month of August via Leinster Rugby’s charity partnership initiative.

“A key focus at Laya Healthcare is to empower our members to look after their health and wellbeing so they can be at their very best always and heart health is an integral part of that. Supporting the work of the Irish Heart Foundation resonates strongly with us and speaks to our own Heartbeat Cardiac Screening, which to date has screened over 110,000 members.

“Preventative screening is crucial and something we strive to raise awareness for and the Irish Heart Foundation do great work in this area also, so are a perfect fit”.

Leinster Rugby Head of Commercial and Marketing, Kevin Quinn commented, “We are delighted that the team in Laya Healthcare has chosen the Irish Heart Foundation as our nominated charity for the month of August. They are a charity that we worked quite closely with a few years ago and we in Leinster Rugby look forward to supporting the tremendous work that they do for people living with the impact of heart disease and stroke which  impacts so many lives in Ireland each year.”

Like all of the charities selected, the Irish Heart Foundation was selected by Leinster Rugby after a consultation process involving the leadership group of the men, women’s and Academy teams and consultation with the premium sponsors and partners and the Official Leinster Supporters Club.

Two of those premium partners, Bank of Ireland and BearingPoint, have pledged their support to the charities chosen.

Bank of Ireland has confirmed that its Player of the Month Award donation will now be made to the monthly charity affiliate, rather than the player in question, a move that is also supported by the Leinster Rugby players.

BearingPoint has also agreed to make a donation to each charity partner chosen by Leinster Rugby in lieu of support normally provided to the club pre-Covid.

In addition, Laya Healthcare have also pledged to support the Irish Heart Foundation as their nominated charity for the month of August.