RESIDENTS are urged to head to Festival Place this week for a free blood pressure check.

As part of the national Know Your Numbers! Week, Festival Place Health Hub is carrying out free blood pressure checks from Monday, September 5, to Sunday, September 11, between 11am and 5pm. There is no need to book and residents can just turn up.

The new community-focused Health Hub, on Queen Anne’s Walk in Festival Place is open seven days a week, between 11am and 5pm.The theme for this year’s Know Your Numbers! campaign is measure, modify and manage.

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Dr Tim Cooper, Hampshire GP and clinical director at the Hampshire, and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board, said: “Around a third of people in the UK have high blood pressure, but most don’t know it. It doesn’t have any symptoms so, the only way to find out is to have a blood pressure check. 

“We will be carrying out free blood pressure checks for anyone who wishes to get theirs checked and we encourage everyone to do so. We will also be able to provide help and advice on what to do if your blood pressure is high.”

Getting a blood pressure check is the first step to preventing heart attacks and strokes. High blood pressure is a major cause of these diseases but usually has no symptoms until it’s too late.

Knowing your numbers means you can start making healthy lifestyle changes or start taking medicines if you need them to bring your blood pressure down to a healthy level. So it’s time to get involved and take the ‘measure it’ challenge.

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Around 280,000 people have been diagnosed with high blood pressure in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight and 220,000 people across the county are living with heart and circulatory diseases.