New grant opportunity to help Gloucestershire residents reduce their risk of heart attacks and strokes

An exciting opportunity has come up for VCSE sector organisations to apply for a grant and work in partnership with NHS Gloucestershire to help communities across the county to manage their blood pressure and reduce their risk of heart attacks and strokes.

What is blood pressure?

Blood pressure is the pressure of blood in your arteries. Your arteries are the vessels (tubes) that carry blood from your heart to your brain and the rest of your body. You need a certain amount of pressure to get the blood moving around your body.

Your blood pressure naturally goes up and down throughout the day and night, and it’s normal for it to go up while you’re moving about. It’s when your overall blood pressure is always high, even when you are resting, that you need to do something about it.

Why is this important?

High blood pressure (also called hypertension) usually has no symptoms so many people do not realise they have it. If left untreated, high blood pressure can lead to serious problems like heart attacks or strokes.

According to the Stroke Association, high blood pressure is the single biggest risk factor for stroke. Hypertension contributes to around 50% of all strokes and is one of the top five contributors towards premature death in England.

What is the opportunity?

Following a review of local data, target populations and areas have been identified across the county where there are gaps in the diagnosis and/or treatment of hypertension.

This is a one-off funding opportunity via the Integrated Care Partnership to work in partnership with the NHS Gloucestershire to co-design projects or interventions that aim to address these gaps and help our population to effectively manage their blood pressure.

I’d like to know more, what do I need to do?

A guidance document has been developed to provide additional information about the opportunity. This document explains how the process will work, expected timescales, how applications will be scored and what the expectations are for organisations that are successful. All information and documentation relating to this opportunity is available via the below links:

On Tuesday 29 April 2025 there will also be a virtual webinar between 12:05pm to 1pm. The webinar will include a short presentation to explain more about the offer and then will open up for any questions you may have. If you are not able to attend the webinar, all questions asked during the session will be collated into a live FAQs document which will be continuously updated throughout the process.

To register your interest in the webinar please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

I want to get involved, what are the next steps?

If you are interested in working in partnership with the NHS to address these inequalities in our county, please complete the expressions of interest form available here. The deadline for submission is Sunday 11th May 2025.

If you have any questions about this opportunity, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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