Yoobots are here!

Ever wondered what you'll look like in the future....?

Now you can find out by creating a mini digital Yoobot version of you.

• Bring it to life
• Give it your face
• Dress it
• Decorate its room
• Feed it
• Decide everything it does

By travelling through time, you’ll see what you’re going to look like when you get old. You can even decide when your Yoobot dies!

The Yoobot game is latest part of our Food4Thought campaign to help children take more responsibility for their own health.

It encourages children to consider the long term consequences of their food and activity choices – and offers them a chance to experiment with their own future.

Join the Yoobot revolution!

Are you speedier than Santa?

At the BHF we’re getting fit for the festive season!

Thousands of Santas will be donning their running shoes and red suits to take part in our Santa Jog events across the UK.

You can get into the holiday spirit too by playing our fun online game to help Santa get in training so he’s ready for the big day.

Please help us to promote the jogs by emailing the game link to your friends, family and colleagues.

What do you think of our Santa game? Post a comment below.

Experiment with your future!

Ever wondered what you'll look like in the future....?

Now you can by creating a mini digital version of you with our brand new Yoobot.

Here's how it works:

Get born
Give it your face - upload your photo
Dress it and decorate its room
Feed it what you want
Make it do what you want
Travel through time and see what you'll look like when you're old
Decide how it lives and when it dies!

Free at yoobot.co.uk from Wednesday 26th November!

Take credit for helping us save lives!

The BHF credit card has raised over £1.5 million for the British Heart Foundation. To celebrate, we’ve launched a brand new card design, reflecting the pioneering nature of our life-saving research.

We’ve also got a great offer of a complimentary seven day Fitness First gym pass!

For every successful application made, MBNA Europe Bank Ltd will contribute £50 to us when you make your first card purchase. MBNA will then contribute a further 35p for every £100 you spend.

Typical 15.9% APR (variable)

PLUS, when you spend over £100 on your BHF credit card, you’ll be able to download a complimentary seven day guest pass for your local Fitness First gym.

Apply today

What do you think of our cool new credit card design? Post your comments below.

Heart patient Julie’s recovery challenge

We always love to hear from our supporters. When Vicki Gilham wrote to tell us about her family’s sponsored walk in aid of the British Heart Foundation, we thought we’d find out more. Here’s the full story as told by Vicki’s dad, Pete.

“On Saturday 18 October this year, a party of 11 of us set off from the church in Patterdale to walk and scramble our way up Helvellyn in the Lake District via Striding Edge.

“My wife Julie had her mitral valve repaired in August 2007, and had set herself the recovery challenge to be able to climb Helvellyn again.

“We mentioned the trip to our son and daughters and they said they wanted to come with us. The children thought it would be a good idea to turn it into a sponsored event and set up a webpage on JustGiving.

“The climb was a very hard day for Julie. Without the continual encouragement of the family and numerous rest stops she would never have made it. The weather did not help with driving rain, strong wind and low cloud cover. After five hours of grit and determination, she finally made it to the top.

“There must be a God because as we made the final scramble up to the summit, the clouds lifted, the sun came out and the views were magnificent.

“We had originally planned to do the trip a week later but couldn't book any accommodation. That was the weekend of the Original Mountain Marathon and the terrible storms in the Lake District we all saw on the news reports!

“We ended up making over £1,500 for the British Heart Foundation.”

Have you organised your own fundraising activity or taken part in a BHF event? Post your comment below and tell us what you've been doing.

Models needed this Thursday in London!

This coming February, we're launching a new BHF fundraising campaign called Red for Heart.

For the campaign, we're holding a photoshoot this Thursday, 13th November from 1.00-5.00pm in north west London. We need over 100 people to be our Red for Heart models!

The shoot will be of a crowd of people, all wearing red, holding up a huge heart shape and the photo will be taken from above.

To sign up for the photoshoot, please complete this simple form

When: 1-5pm, Thursday 13th November
Where: Park Royal Studios, 1 Barretts Green Road, London NW10 7AE
How to get there: Located in north west London, the studio is a five minute walk from Harlesden Underground station on the Bakerloo line (see map).

Don't forget to tell your friends and colleagues. Foward them the form

Thank you for your help and we hope to see there on Thursday!

Fitness First takes to the skies for the BHF

Staff and members at Fitness First have shown they are all heart by raising more than £81,000 for the BHF, the gym chain’s fundraising partner.

In the first year of the three year partnership, gym members have taken part in events including sky dives, our London to Paris Bike Ride and a static marathon run.

Daredevil Helen Cooke, 24, works at the Northampton branch of Fitness First. She raised more than £400 for the BHF by taking part in a sky dive.

Helen says: “I’d wanted to do a sky dive for a long time so when I saw the opportunity advertised in my gym I decided to go for it. The experience really was as amazing as I thought it would be and it was great to know I was raising money for a good cause at the same time.”

Douglas Rouse, Head of Corporate Partnerships at the British Heart Foundation said: “We are thrilled Fitness First has really risen to the challenge this year. With their enthusiastic fundraising they are playing an important role in helping raise awareness of heart disease as well as raising vital funds to fight it.”

Each of the 170 Fitness First clubs in the UK will continue to work closely with BHF over the next two years.

Find out more about Fitness First and the BHF and our other Charity of the Year partnerships.

Hearty walkers brave the elements

Nearly 100 hikers set out on this year's BHF Hearts First Chilterns Hike and even the wind, rain and mud couldn’t keep them away!

With the weather looking like it was going to be miserable all day, the BHF hikers left the start in Wendover Woods to brave their 18 mile hike. They followed a testing yet picturesque cross country route, traversing their way across some stunning Buckinghamshire countryside armed with maps, waterproofs and a keen sense of adventure

The hikers returned from 2pm with the last returning just as the dark was setting in (their torches proving very handy!) Many returned covered from head to toe in mud but all with beaming smiles on their faces.

We hope to raise £20,000 from this event and early signs are good that we will reach our target.

Find out more about taking part in our fundraising events

Got a story to tell?

We'll shortly be launching our annual Food4Thought campaign aimed at tacking childhood obesity. We're looking for people to support us.

We need families who have made lifestyle and diet changes; either to lose weight or because you have realised the importance of leading healthier lives.

You would need to be willing to support the campaign and be available for media work, most likely in the form of a phone interview for local newspapers or radio.

Your story really can make a difference in helping to tackle this serious health problem.

To find out more, please contact Alaina McGregor in the BHF Press Office on mcgregora@bhf.org.uk

It's one helluva ride for hearts

Are you brave enough to go to hell and back for the British Heart Foundation?

News reaches us of a fiendish challenge being organised by Catford Cycling Club in London called, 'Hell of Ashdown Challenge'.

The ride is on Sunday 1st February and comes at the start of our major fundraising National Heart Month. Half the proceeds from the event registration, plus all additional sponsorship will go to the BHF.

The tough 110K route goes from Biggin Hill to Ashdown Forest taking in some devilish hills.

If you'd like to take part and help raise money for our live saving work, go to http://www.hell.gb.com/

Or see our event finder for a British Heart Foundation event in your area.

Help us ban the sale of cigarettes from vending machines

It's illegal to sell cigarettes to children...but did you know that across England and Wales 46,000 11-15 year olds regularly buy them?

That's because one in six children who smoke buy their cigarettes from cigarette vending machines.

We want to reduce the number of young people who are putting their health at risk. To help do this, we want to see an immediate ban on the sale of cigarettes from vending machines.

Support our campaign and sign our petition now.

Have you spotted a cigarette vending machine that's easily accessible to children? Post a comment and let us know.

Stand up and be counted

Have you got something to say about services for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases, such as angina or stroke?

If so, please take ten minutes to fill out our online survey on the future of cardio and vascular services in England.

Your views are important because we will shortly be preparing our recommendations for a new Cardio & Vascular Health Strategy in England for 2010-2020.

By completing our survey you really can help to make a difference.

Find out more about the Cardio & Vascular Coalition