Meet The Stroke Preventers!

The Stroke Association launches ‘The Stroke Preventers’ this week- five new cartoon characters with special powers to help children to eat healthily and reduce their risk of stroke. The Stroke Preventers were created to coincide with this year’s Stroke Awareness Week (4th-10th October) as an interactive way for children to get involved and identify with the campaign.

Meet Orange Kid- when she sees someone about to eat an unhealthy snack, she whizzes over in her wheelchair, powered by a carrot-shaped rocket, and offers a healthy alternative.

Yellow Kid makes sure everyone eats a healthy breakfast, full of cereals, toast and oats.

Green Kid helps everyone to eat plenty of greens with their dinner-broccoli, spinach, courgettes and kale.

Blue Kid encourages everyone to drink plenty of water and eat fish in their diet. He can also see when someone is eating unhealthily through his magic glasses.

Apple Dog helps Blue Kid lets the other Stroke Preventers know when children need their help.

This year’s Stroke Awareness Week is aimed at children aged 4-11 years old. The Stroke Preventers were created as a new way for all children to learn more about stroke and stroke prevention and will support the theme of the campaign, ‘Eat a Rainbow-Beat a Stroke’, which encourages children to eat five portions of fruit and vegetables daily to help reduce their risk of stroke. The Stroke Association is also working with children’s celebrities such as Blue Peter, who are supporting the campaign this year.

Children’s first job is to name The Stroke Preventers! During Stroke Awareness Week, The Stroke Association is holding a competition, open to all children across England and Wales, to name The Stroke Preventers. The creators of the best names will win a smoothie maker, and winners will be formally announced in January 2005.

“The Stroke Association depends on support from all sections of the community, and children are an integral part of that. We need to reach out to children to make them more aware of stroke and the fact that it can happen at any time, but also to develop a long-lasting relationship with them that can be carried into the future,” commented Gregg Vines, Director of Communications at The Stroke Association.

“The Stroke Preventers were created as positive role models on healthy eating that children can identify with, and also to provide fun and interactive ways in which they can get involved in this year’s Stroke Awareness Week. We also hope that they will provide support and a sense of belonging for children who have had a stroke themselves or had parents or grandparents who have had the condition.”

As well as supporting Stroke Awareness Week, The Stroke Preventers will become an integral part of future initiatives by The Stroke Association to reach out to children on an ongoing basis. This will include a quarterly Stroke Preventers newsletter and a dedicated section on The Stroke Association’s website, which will also provide a place for children to play interactive games and submit drawings and short stories, as well as a confidential forum where they can share their experiences of stroke.

To request further information on Stroke Awareness Week, please contact The Stroke Association on 01604 623919 or by e-mail at strokeawareness@stroke.org.uk

Ends

For further information on The Stroke Preventers contact The Stroke Association on 020 7566 0315 or via e-mail at sharding@stroke.org.uk. High-resolution images of The Stroke Preventers are available on request.

For press enquiries, please contact the Media team at The Stroke Association on 020 7566 0328/1515 or by e-mail at press@stroke.org.uk  Please note we have an ISDN facility

Notes to editor

1. Each year over 130,000 people in England and Wales have a stroke. Of all people who suffer from a stroke, about a third are likely to die within the first 10 days, about a third are likely to make a recovery within one month and about a third are likely to be left disabled and needing rehabilitation. Stroke has a greater disability impact than any other medical condition. A quarter of a million people are living with long-term disability as a result of stroke in the UK.

2. The Stroke Association is the only national charity solely concerned with combating stroke in people of all ages. It funds research into prevention, treatment and better methods of rehabilitation and helps stroke patients and their families directly through its community services. These include dysphasia support, family support, information services, welfare grants, publications and leaflets. We also campaign, educate and inform to increase knowledge of stroke at all levels of society and we act as a voice for everyone affected by stroke.

3. A stroke happens when the blood supply to the brain is disrupted. Most strokes occur when a blood clot blocks the flow of blood to the brain. Some strokes are caused by bleeding in or around the brain from a burst blood vessel. When the blood supply is disrupted, parts of the brain become damaged or destroyed. Some strokes are fatal whist others can cause permanent or temporary paralysis to one side of the body and loss of the ability to speak, read or write. Recovery may be slow and can vary from person to person.

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