Student nurses raise over £10,000 for Gibraltar Cardiac Association

A group of 12 student nurses have raised over £10,000 through a charity ‘Walk the Beat’ challenge for the Gibraltar Cardiac Association.

The student nurses from the GHA’s School of Health Studies took part in a 24 hour walk last September.

The students, together with registered participants, took turns to walk around the Victoria Stadium’s track with a total of £10,151 was raised from the event.

The aim of the event was to raise funds and awareness on heart and cardiovascular diseases in Gibraltar.

The Minister for Health Neil Costa thanked the student nurses for their hard work.

“Their achievements are especially admirable, given they have organised the event in their spare time, whilst, at the same time, working very hard towards their challenging studies,” Mr Costa said.

“The dedication and kindness they have demonstrated in planning and taking part in this event signals that the future of nursing in Gibraltar is in excellent hands.”

Chairperson of the Gibraltar Cardiac Association Suyenne Catania said the charity was “extremely grateful” to the student nurses who took time out of their studies to organise ‘Walk the Beat’.

“It was a most challenging event, which proved to be a success and will now form part of our bi-annual calendar,” Ms Catania said.

“Being a new charity, we are overwhelmed with the generous amount of money which has been raised thanks to the support of our community and the hard work and dedication of a team of student nurses, whose vocation has gone beyond their call of duty.”

“You are a credit to our health service and the GHA.”

As part of the course the student nurses are encouraged to take part in extracurricular charity work within the local community.

“It is a huge achievement to organise such an event and raise the amount of money that they have for such an important and worthy cause,” Principal Lecturer of the SHS, James Viñales.

“The charitable work and engagement of the Gibraltar public is essential, as, at some point, Gibraltarians will require our health services, and they will be nursed by the students. I am extremely proud of the student nurses, both past and present, who have engaged in charity work throughout Gibraltar.”