Know Your Numbers! Week

Every September, blood pressure checks are taken by thousands to prevent heart attacks and strokes. 

Know Your Numbers! Week reaches those who have high blood pressure and don’t know it, so they can get the treatment and support they need to bring it under control.

Previously, hundreds of organisations took part, setting up Pressure Stations in public places across the UK. From hospitals and health centres to offices, car parks and supermarkets. Even the Royal Albert Hall. Today, the Know Your Numbers! Week focus is on home blood pressure monitoring, as it's the easiest way to find out your blood pressure numbers. Take a look at the highlights from past campaigns.

Know Your Numbers! Week 2023 

This year's campaign will take place from 4-10 September 2023

Don't miss your chance to take part in the UK's biggest blood pressure testing and awareness event. 

REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED.

Download our Know Your Numbers! Week 2023 poster [PDF 248KB]

Download our 2023 social media images.

2023 sees the 23rd anniversary of Know your Numbers! Week. We are planning to mark this milestone with a new theme and activities and look forward to working with you on Know your Numbers! Week 2023.

Know Your Numbers! Week 2023 is taking place from 4-10 September. We won’t be offering free pressure checks in our community Pressure Stations again this year, but we will still encourage the whole of the UK to Know Their Numbers! We will build on our campaigns from the last three years as we get the nation to take up home monitoring. 

Our theme for 2023 is: Make the time, ease your pressure.

We’ll be keeping the focus on home monitoring as it’s the easiest way to Know Your Numbers!, so you can take steps to lower them.  And we’re asking you to encourage your friends, family, neighbours, and colleagues to measure their blood pressure at home.

Let's make this the year we get everyone measuring their blood pressure at home. If you would like to be involved or simply share the message, see the different ways you can get involved below.

With the everyday pressures of life, we know that understanding why it’s important to know your blood pressure numbers and taking the time to get them measured isn’t always a priority. However, did you know that 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, which is why it’s known as ‘the silent killer’. 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 essential to make the time to check your blood pressure to see if it’s under control.

It’s never too early OR late to start checking your blood pressure. Your blood pressure is very important no matter your age. It is never too late to take action to lower your blood pressure. High blood pressure is not simply a part of growing old. You can take steps to know your numbers and lower it if it’s high no matter how old you are. So why not take the time and make a start today?

Make the time now to prioritise your health. Start with your blood pressure to beat ‘the silent killer’.

Home monitoring is an effective and inexpensive way to keep blood pressure under control and the evidence behind it continues to get stronger. It offers a way for YOU to take control of your health, feel confident, and take the pressure off the NHS at the same time. It gives you a practical way to Know Your Numbers! without visiting your GP, practice nurse, or pharmacist in person. It puts you in the driver's seat, and it really can save lives. 

This year, we want everyone to Know Their Numbers! and find those with undiagnosed and uncontrolled high blood pressure. We will:

• encourage the nation to use a simple and reliable blood pressure monitor to measure their blood pressure at home
• and take the necessary steps if their reading is considered high
• raise awareness about the risks of high blood pressure.

High blood pressure can lead to heart attacks, strokes, and other illnesses. Once you Know Your Numbers! you can get support to bring your blood pressure under control and prevent these diseases. 

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. 

Visit our online measuring your blood at home resources hub to download our range of home blood pressure monitoring resources for this Know Your Numbers! Week and beyond. 

Know Your Numbers! Week 2023 is taking place from 4-10 September. If you would like to be involved – as a Pressure Partner or Patient Ambassador, or simply share the message, see the different ways you can get involved below. Click here to download our 2023 social media images.

REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED

We will then email you a toolkit of resources to help you spread the Know Your Numbers! message.

Registrations closed at the end of August.

Download our Know Your Numbers! Week 2023 poster [PDF 248KB].

Download our 2023 social media images.

How you can get involved

As a Pressure Partner or Patient Ambassador, you have a crucial role to play. 

Become a Pressure Partner

This role is for pharmacies, gyms, leisure centres, hospitals, GP surgeries, care centres, Local authorities, libraries, and employers. 

• Promote home blood pressure monitoring (HBPM) by encouraging purchase (including in your own pharmacies) or sharing of blood pressure monitors. For example, online via your websites, newsletters, and social media. 
• Offer guidance on how to use a monitor properly and what to do if the reading is high.
• Direct people to our website and helpline where they can find all sorts of information about choosing a home monitor, how to use it, and how to look after their blood pressure.
• Patients may not be able to get a blood pressure check in pharmacies, or GP surgeries, but patients still need help and guidance from their healthcare professional, and shared decision-making on their treatment and medicine adherence. You have a vital role in offering this support. 
• Talk about the risks of high blood pressure such as heart disease, stroke, and dementia, and reinforce the healthy lifestyle message, namely the role of healthy eating and physical activity.

Become a Patient Ambassador

This role is for the general public, patients, and our members. As a Patient Ambassador, you will be a great support to our Pressure Partners and help spread the word.

• Host a ‘Home Pressure Station’.
• Speak to friends and family to encourage them to buy or borrow a blood pressure monitor and start measuring their blood pressure at home.
• Speak to community groups about home monitoring, such as your local Rotary, library, or patient groups. 
• Start a group chat called ‘We Know Our Numbers’ where you can share healthy living ideas.
• Tell us your blood pressure story (anonymously if you wish) so we can inspire others to know their numbers.
• Direct people to our website and helpline where they can find all sorts of information about choosing a home monitor, how to use it, and looking after their blood pressure.  
• Plus, see the other ways you can help. 

Your participation will provide a great service to your community. We will support you with suggestions and resources. 

REGISTRATION IS CLOSED

Registrations closed at the end of August.

Find out more about Know Your Numbers!

Social Media Images

The following images are available to download and use for Know Your Numbers! Week 2023. Please right click the image and choose the 'Save Image As' option.

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Check out some of our highlights from previous campaigns and see how we reach thousands of people every year. 

• 2023 – Make the time, ease your pressure.
  Home blood pressure monitoring was the key message. We encouraged the nation to make the time to check their blood pressure with a home blood pressure monitor, or at the pharmacy or GP to ease their pressure.

• 2022 – Measure. Modify. Manage.
  We got the nation checking their blood pressure at home for a third year. We encouraged the nation to measure their blood pressure, modify their lifestyle if necessary, and in turn manage their health.

• 2021 – Are YOUR pipes in good working order?
  We got the nation checking their blood pressure at home for a second year to take on the forgotten pandemic of high blood pressure. 

• 2020 – YOU are in control
  This year's Know Your Numbers! Week was a little different to usual, and we got the nation checking their blood pressure at home.

• 2019 – Live well for longer
  This year's Know Your Numbers! Week was all about knowing your blood pressure numbers to live a long and healthy life.

• 2018 – Do you KNOW YOUR risks of high blood pressure NUMBERS?
  Many people don’t know the risks associated with having uncontrolled or undiagnosed high blood pressure. We highlighted these risks and encouraged ALL family members to check their blood pressure to reduce their risk of stroke or CVD.

• 2017 – Stop stroke
  With the proportion of strokes in younger adults on the rise, we urged the UK to Know Your Numbers! regardless of your age.
  
  
• 2016 – Know Your Numbers! Know Your Risks!  
  This year we asked: Are you a risk taker? You are if you don't know your blood pressure numbers!
  
  
• 2015 – Make every second count
  A blood pressure check is quick, free, painless, and could save your life – that’s why we urged everyone to make every second count and get a check.
  
  
• 2014 – Hunt for the missing millions
  There are eight million people in the UK living with high blood pressure but not being treated for it – we set out to find them.  

• 2013 – Do you have lucky numbers?
  We asked: Do you have lucky numbers? and over 1,200 Pressure Stations helped us find out.
  
  
• 2012 – Do you know your Partner's blood pressure?
  We encouraged the nation to not only find out their own blood pressure numbers, but their partner’s too.
  
  
• 2011 – Ignorance isn’t always bliss
  We revealed that nearly three quarters of UK adults don't know their blood pressure numbers. 

• 2010 – Are you gambling with your health?
  Nurses at Caer Health in Wales took 2,300 blood pressures in eight hours, smashing the Guinness World Record.
  
  
• 2009 – Could you be the one in three?
  A third of adults have high blood pressure and a third of those don’t know it – we went in search of the one in three.
  
  
• 2008 – Are you at risk from the blood pressure time bomb?
  A quarter of a million people had a free blood pressure check as we tried to stop the blood pressure time bomb, an achievement recognised by The Charity Awards.

• 2007 – Finding the missing millions
  16 million people in the UK have high blood pressure but 5.3 million of them don’t know it, putting them at risk of heart attacks and stroke. We set out to find them.

Feeling inspired? See how you can get involved.