Knowsley Cardio Vascular Disease Programme (CVD)

As part of their commitment to decreasing cardio-vascular disease across the borough, NHS Knowsley tendered for a drama organisation to deliver their creative output at several events across the year.

At Altru we were delighted to win the tender and work on a fantastic programme of events to deliver such key messages around health and lifestyle choices.

Our first piece of work was a play, written by Kate Gorst, for the launch of the CVD programme entitled ‘Check In / Check Out’, which was designed to encourage members of the community to have a health check and, as such, identify risks in their own health and make changes to their lifestyle.

The performance, which followed a regular family and, in particular the health of the father Terry, was a resounding success at the launch event mixing the hard hitting message with humour and pathos.


“The NHS Knowsley Cardiovascular Disease programme commenced in October 2008. As part of the launch we commissioned a piece of theatre to engage community members and convey key messages around the impact of CVD on individuals and family, the aim of the work was to encourage people to take responsibility for their health.

Altru did a huge amount of background research on the subject of CVD and this culminated in a very down to earth and moving piece of theatre that was very well received by all that watched it and I’m sure would move people to consider their own lifestyle choices.”
Paula Taylor, NHS Knowsley Arts in Health Officer


As an organisation, we are keen to deliver messages around health and can work with PCTs, local authorities and independent health organisations to develop and deliver project and performance ideas.