Conservative and Green Party candidates get health check-up

Well Pharmacy is urging people to visit the city centre to get their blood pressure checked for free this week as part of its campaign to tackle hypertension. 

Conservative candidate John Stevenson and Green Party candidate Gavin Hawkton were among those getting a check-up on Monday morning. 

Mr Stevenson said: "It's a demonstration of the importance of having your health checks done on a regular basis, just to catch anything early. It's always better to be preventative rather than after the event.

"I think it's a really good thing by Well group to do this and encourage people to get their blood pressure checked."

Mr Hawkton said: "It's really important to get your blood pressure checked in terms of looking after your health and being aware of your own health.

"There are many diseases that can come from blood pressure, so it's a really simple thing to do to get your blood pressure tested."

Hypertension, higher than normal blood pressure, contributes to half of all strokes and heart attacks in the UK. 

It has very few noticeable symptoms but monitoring your blood pressure regularly and making simple lifestyle changes can make a big difference. 

Ann Marie O'Meara, area operations manager for Well Pharmacy, said: "It's wonderful to see our local election candidates come down and support us.

"It's so important to get your blood pressure checked, it is the biggest silent killer in the UK. For us it's all about knowing your numbers and just looking after your health."

The mobile health bus will be in the pedestrianised area of the city centre until 14 June. 

Other candidates for Carlisle in the upcoming General Election are:

• Julie Minns for Labour
• Stephen Ward for Reform
• Brian Wernham for the Liberal Democrats
• Rachel Hayton for the Social Democrats
• independent candidate Thomas Lynestrider
• and independent candidate Sean Reed.