BARNTON FC and 1874 Northwich are getting involved in raising awareness for heart issues in young people.

Players from both clubs are set to take part in a cardiac screening event run by the charity Cardiac Risk in the Young next month.

Players who are in the 14-35 age bracket have been invited to the event, which will take place at Barnton Primary School – which neighbours both clubs’ Townfield home ground – on March 19-20 as well as teachers from the school under the age of 35.

Other local football clubs are also being asked and encouraged to take part, and they hope to open it up to more local junior teams.

The event has been organised by Deborah Dixon, a prolific campaigner for CRY who has raised more than £250,000 with the Aaron James Dixon Memorial Fund.

The charity is named after Deborah’s son, who died from an undetected heart defect in September 2011 aged only 24.

Barnton FC chairman David Bryning said that he was ‘proud’ of his community, and that the event would be a massive thank you to the school and to Deborah for all of her charity work.

He said: “It’s bringing everyone in the community together for such a wonderful cause.”

He highlighted the importance of young people taking the opportunity to get themselves screened, especially in light of many high-profile incidents of fans being taken ill at football stadiums over the course of the ongoing campaign.

Barnton Primary School raised enough money to purchase a defibrillator last year for the school, something which came about following an incident with one of their football teams’ players who suffered from chest pains during a match.

There is also one at the cricket club and one at the library, both nearby to the stadium.

Bryning added that the football club hopes to hold fundraiser events over the summer to raise money for CRY and give a ‘significant contribution’ back to them.

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