Are you friendly?

Of course you are!... which is why we know you'll want to become a friend of our Facebook 'Watch your own heart attack' event page.

We're inviting you and all your friends to watch our event, August 10th, 9:17pm, ITV1. So join in and ask your mates......

Go to our Facebook page.

Watch your own heart attack to help save the life you love

Have you seen the BHF site for Watch your own heart attack at 2minutes.org.uk?

Yes, that's right. On Sunday 10th August at 9:17pm you'll be able to watch your own heart attack on ITV1.

"Why would I want to do that?" you may be asking. Well it's important that you and everyone else should know what the symptoms of heart attack are and what to do should it ever happen to you or someone close to you.

So, how exactly will you be able to watch your own heart attack? Well, that's top secret I'm afraid. You'll have to tune in to ITV1 at 9:17pm to watch the event on Sunday 10th August. Book yourself an event reminder as this could arguably be the most important two minutes of TV you'll ever see.

Ainsley Harriott will be watching. So will David Cameron and Claire Goose. Make sure you don't miss this event and you could help us save the life you love.

Martyn's race against time - and Le Tour!

Martyn Jones, from Hertford, is riding the gruelling route of Le Tour de France ahead of the professional racers.

He set off three days before the event and hopes they won’t catch him up!

The money he raises will be split between ourselves and the Association of Young People with ME.

Always active as a youngster, Martyn loved most sports, however, in his late-teens he was diagnosed with M.E. For a very energetic person, this was extremely debilitating.

Martyn says: “You feel like a living dead person so to speak. Imagine having a really hard bout of flu, but for years and years.”

Fortunately, at 34 Martyn is now well over his M.E. and it was cycling that got him fit.

“I wanted to donate half of the money I raise to a charity that promotes sport and especially my passion – cycling. The BHF organise so many fantastic rides including London to Brighton, Oxford to Cambridge and the Norwich Ride, so they were an obvious choice.

"Plus, both my grandparents died of heart disease. I didn’t even get the chance to meet my granddad as he died in his fifties.”

Martyn is riding the exact same course as Le Tour de France participants, staying in the same towns along the way.

He is paying for the event out of his own savings. He hopes to raise £30,000 to split between both charities. Visit Martyn’s site at www.justgiving.com/letour4good

A monster effort

Four fearless fundraisers are travelling 160 miles along Scotland’s four canals - in a pedalo.

Allan Crow, Martyn Smith, Stu Howe and David Hunter have decorated their four-man, aluminium craft to look like Nessie the Loch Ness Monster.

They aim to raise thousands for BHF Scotland’s Forth Valley Equipment Appeal which will provide a 3D stress echocardiograph machine for a local hospital.

It will take them 10 days to cover the length of the Union, Forth & Clyde, Crinan and Caledonian canals.

The four are veterans at organising quirky fundraising events – they have already trekked 100 miles along Scotland’s West Highland Way dressed as bananas.

Cycle nut Dale's Canada can-do!

Didcot Dad Dale Sutcliffe is attempting an epic cycle challenge, to cross Canada in just over a month, hoping to raise over £2000 for the British Heart Foundation and BMS World Mission in the process.

Setting off from Vancouver on Thursday, 24th July, Dale plans to cycle 4060 miles at a rate of 120 miles per day, until he reaches his destination of Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Dale, who teaches in the Newbury area, explains:

"At 45, I am at that crazy stage of life where I like to set myself challenges. The first one was cycling from Lands End to John O’Groats 3 years ago, but now I am going for the big one. My wife and children think I must be mad but they are all being very supportive. I am a focused person, so unless a leg drops off, I intend to finish come hell or high water".

Show your support for Dale at: www.justgiving.com/crosscanadacycle

Let us know about any other epic BHF fundraising challenges you or a friend are taking part in!

Celebrity nutritionist Sally Bee launches the Hearts First Warwickshire Walk

Celebrity nutritionist Sally Bee will be one of 400 people taking part in the Hearts First Warwickshire Walk to raise £16,000 for the BHF.

Mum of three Sally, 37, from Stratford-Upon-Avon, is a living advertisement for the vital work of the BHF. An undiagnosed major genetic heart defect almost killed Sally in 2005, when she suffered 3 heart attacks in just 1 week.

Sally is rounding up support for the walk:

“By giving up a few hours of your life to take part, you can save the life of someone else. The exercise will also be good for your own heart, so give the fry up and lie in a miss on Sunday 14th September and sign up for the Warwickshire Walk!”

The Hearts First Warwickshire Walk takes place on Sunday 14th September. Participants can walk, run or jog the 5km course through the beautiful, historic grounds of Stoneleigh Abbey.

Are you or a friend taking part in a fundraising event for the BHF? If so, then let us know and we'll try to publicise it in our blog!

Charity shopping reaches a new retail high

Shopping at charity stores not only helps worthwhile causes but it is taking off in popularity as the UK credit crunch bites!

A recent article in The Observer newspaper reported a noted rise in charity retail of late.

It's welcome news for our BHF shops who are urgently asking for your help through donating your unwanted goods. Our shops cover general and specialist retail - from clothing and bric-a-brac, through to electrical goods, furniture, music and books.

Why not have a clear out, donate to a good cause and browse the racks at your local BHF shop while you are there?

Heart disease - it touches us all

More often than not, pictures really do speak louder than words.

The latest film on our BHF video channel explains why our work really is important.

From our pioneering research to our life support training schemes, this moving video shows how heart disease can touch all our families.

See what you think. Please watch the video below, and then let us know your thoughts by posting a comment below...

Taking heart information out to the nation

Our latest video podcast has just been released, and it's a report from our recent BHF Live! events which took place in north east England.

Our nurses' team and a special BHF Live! truck toured supermarkets offering members of the public free heart health information, plus cholesterol, blood pressure and overall fitness tests.

You can see how they all got on by watching the video below. We hope you enjoy it...

Doctor's support for the BHF

A new Doctor Who novel is being published to help raise funds for the British Heart Foundation.

Time's Champion is the final novel by author Craig Hinton who died suddenly in December 2006, and has been completed by his colleague Chris McKeon from Craig's notes and unfinished material.

It's being published in Craig's memory and some of the proceeds will be used to help fund our fight against heart disease, the UK's biggest killer.

Doctor Who is the latest fictional character to lend his support to the BHF. Last week we reported how James Bond was getting involved!

Check out our new BHF channels

We've been rapidly growing the number of multimedia channels through which you can get a wide range of different types of BHF content, such as video, audio, photos, podcasts, mobile texts and, of course, this blog.

So we've pulled them all together on to a single page which you can now access, and it's called BHF Multimedia

But these new channels aren't just a way for us to communicate with you, they're also your chance to talk with us, and share your own thoughts and content with your fellow users.

The recent posts on this blog about our 2008 London to Brighton Bike Ride were a great example of how you can feed back to us about how well or badly you think we are doing.

So it's worth recapping what the channels are, and we look forward to receiving your comments and your content, whether it's video, photos, audio or maybe you just want to become a fan on our BHF Facebook page. Here's how you can interact with us and fellow users...

BHF on YouTube - visit our comprehensive video channel, become a subscriber to BHF videos on Heart Health, Events, Campaigns, Research and much more, and leave comments for us and other users.

BHF on Flickr - see our great collections of photos from BHF events, campaigns and more, join our BHF Flickr group and share your photos and comments with us and fellow members.

BHF on iTunes (you need iTunes on your computer) - subscribe to our regular audio and video podcasts, and if you have anything to say about what you hear or see leave some feedback for us on iTunes.

BHF on Facebook - find out more about the work of the BHF, join our growing number of Facebook fans and leave comments for us and other visitors to our page.

And last but not least...

BHF on Blogger - get the latest updates about the BHF, subscribe to the blog by RSS or Atom feed, and post your comments on our latest news and activities.

So if you have a comment or question about any of our new multimedia channels - or if there's something you think we should be doing which we aren't - then please post a comment below...

How has your year been?

With the ban on smoking in public places in England one year old today, it's estimated that around 400,000 people have given up cigarettes since the new law came into force.

Are you one of them? Had you already given up as a result of the earlier bans in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland? And if so, how did you manage to quit?

Or are you still trying to kick the habit, but want to know how you could be successful?

Why not share you experiences with us - and everyone else - by posting your comments below.

By the way, if you are still trying to quit, you can find more help at bhf.org.uk/smoking