L2B 2010 details revealed, summer just around the corner...

What better way to shrug off thoughts of the approaching wintry weather?

We've just published registration details for next summer's London to Brighton Bike Ride!

If you need convincing, or even just reminding, have a look at the photos from this year's ride (wow, what a warm day that was).

Scotland's young Braveheart returns to fight heart disease

Andrew Weir, the actor who played Young Hamish in Mel Gibson’s Braveheart at the age of 13, has raised over £1,100 for British Heart Foundation Scotland in memory of his dad.

Andrew, originally from Ayr, left Scotland for New York in 2005 and now lives in San Francisco, California. He is currently appearing as Robert Burns in a promotion for Homecoming 2009 on the website scotland.org

He organised the charity golf event at Belleisle municipal golf course in Ayr in memory of his father David, who died suddenly of a heart attack in August 1999, aged just 49. By tragic coincidence Andrew’s grandfather was 48 when he died - also of a heart attack.

Andrew says: ”My father was incredibly sociable and popular and when he died, his friends gathered enough money to erect a bench in his memory at the first tee at Belleisle golf course so it is a very special place for the whole family. We had so much interest from people who knew my dad that we didn’t really need to promote the event.”

The tournament was organised by Andrew and close family friend, Charlie McGill. It was a great success with over 60 golfers taking part and the event continued into the evening with a fundraiser at The Chase in Ayr. Raffle prizes were donated by William Grant & Sons and John Higgins donated a signed snooker cue.

Andrew added: ”John Murtagh, the actor from Braveheart, Rob Roy and River City, introduced the raffle. John and I worked together for many years in the entertainment business. He recently suffered a heart attack while working in Glasgow and so was keen to come along and promote the vital work of BHF Scotland.”

Apocalypse then

It's not often that our thoughts turn from hearts to braaaains here at the British Heart Foundation, but thanks to a novel unofficial fundraising event from some undead afficionados in London, one intrepid BHF reporter nearly didn't make it out with hers.

The Sports Day of the Dead started with a horde (slowly) rampaging through Leicester Square.

The ranks of the differently-alive were very varied, everything from zombie telemarketers to undead soldiers.

Characters from films and post-apocalyptic video games like Resident Evil tried briefly to keep the mob at bay but were swiftly consumed (providing essential protein)!

Hearts and minds

The ravening monsters then moved on to the swelteringly warm London Fields for an afternoon of fun, games and brain-flavoured jelly.

The javelimb and the people chase definitely added a new twist to the traditional sports day, and there was a great grand prize (more on that later). The limping was very energetic, proving that exercise definitely doesn't have to be dull!

We'd like to extend our thanks to the organisers of this and every other unofficial fundraising event for their creativity and hard work. It's only with your support that we can keep up the fight against heart disease.

Making waves in the fight against heart disease

Our East Region Events Manager Melanie Blackman sends us this report from the weekend's Brighton Sea Swim...

"It was 9am, Saturday. The weather was amazing and the sea 'glassy' (which means pretty perfect I'm reliably informed) when suddenly a voice came over the radio: 'The sharks are in the water!'

"But there was no need to panic. It just the first of three groups of BHF fundraising heroes taking to the water for our third annual Brighton Sea Swim.

"Around 250 Sharks, Dolphins and Seals registered for the 1km swim and decided this was the summer they would get wet, get fit and save lives.

"The media were out in full force capturing the event and some of the incredible life stories that inspire people to take part in our events.

"Also there were a film crew for TV channel Five, who are producing a series about life in Brighton . It's due to be aired early September so make sure you check it out.

"Thanks to the entire team who worked so hard on the day to make this year's Brighton Sea Swim the very best yet!"

From capital to coast - beating heart disease together

A huge well done and thank you to the 27,000 cyclists who took part our London to Brighton Bike Ride in great weather yesterday.

Our annual 54-mile ride, Europe's largest charity bike event, on a scenic route through Surrey and Sussex has raised over £46m for our lifesaving work since it started.

Cyclists set off from south London at half-hourly intervals from 6am to 9am and began arriving on Brighton seafront from about 8.30am.

Since 1980, when we first became involved, over 650,000 riders have taken part. Most riders took about six hours to reach the finishing post.

Among those taking part was comedian and author Dave Gorman (pictured right), who completed the route in three hours and 59 minutes.

"I wanted to get under four hours," he said. "I'm really pleased I got up Ditchling Beacon. I'm officially fitter than I was four years ago when I did it last.

"It was brilliant that people came out to cheer. It's a great event to support the BHF."

BHF spokeswoman Tamara Bennett said: "The day has gone really, really well. The weather has been fantastic - dry and sunny but with enough cloud cover to stop people getting too hot."

See our Flickr photo gallery from L2B 2009

Follow the event as it unfolded on our Twitter feed

Did you take part in the Ride, or would you like to pay tribute to those who did? Then please post a comment below...

Live coverage of London to Brighton 2009

We'll be tweeting the London to Brighton bike ride tomorrow live from the event. But we're not the only ones.

There will be a tweeting mayor - and we notice a few people have already started their coverage including @lazbash, @adec, and more...

If you'll be tweeting please use the hashtag #L2B and post a comment here with your twitter name.

To get the latest follow us on Twitter

Pedal power hits Pompey

A record number of cyclists pedalled into action for the Round the Harbours Bike Ride in Portsmouth on Sunday - which meant a lot of valuable and much appreciated fundraising for us.

“It was an absolutely fantastic day," said the event organiser Melanie Blackman.

"The sun was shining - well, for most of the day - the participants 

were wonderful and the staff and volunteers that managed the four checkpoints did an incredible job.

"This was the 13th year for the Round the Harbours Bike Ride and it was a record breaker with over 1,300 fundraising heroes taking part. Now I'm very much looking forward to seeing those lifesaving funds come flooding in!”

Red Wharf puts our latest Jog into orbit

A sea of red-shirted joggers pounded the pavements of London's Canary Wharf yesterday for the 13th annual British Heart Foundation Canary Wharf Jog.

Crowds gathered as superb dance troupe Ascension Eagles started the entertainment, and celebrity couple Christine and Neil Hamilton joined in a warm-up session led by Reebok staff.

Then, as the Hamilton's cut the start tape and the klaxon sounded, more than 1000 joggers set off around the Wharf to complete up to five laps of the 1km circuit, raising thousands of pounds for to help us beat heart together.

The Jog is facilitated by Canary Wharf Group plc, and is now a major community event for people who live, work and study around east London.

One of last year's top fundraisers, Jacqui Ellis, an executive assistant to Howard Boville and Ben Burgess, was back to raise more money for us in support of her brother-in-law, who had a heart attack at the age of 55.

Jacqui said: “What I think has really worked this year is the fact that there are so many people from the British Heart Foundation, supporting and encouraging everyone as they jog along.

"It really has made a big difference to me. It's very encouraging and we have had some laughs along the way.”

Did you take part in the Jog, or did you turn out to watch? If so, share your experiences by posting a comment below.

And for details of more BHF events this summer go to bhf.org.uk/events

BHF Events quick out of the blocks!

Our 2009 events season is off to a storming start, and participant numbers for many events are already significantly higher than this time last year.

This year, our aim is to raise more than £9m events from our events. Two World Experiences events have also taken place this year, with fundraisers trekking to Everest Base Camp and biking from London to Amsterdam.

This April, we had a fantastic 3200 runners taking part in the Bournemouth Bay Run - well over double the number who took part in the same event last year.

Similarly, our Hyde Park Jog brought out a staggering 1969 runners, who chose to jog 5k or 10k around the beautiful royal park - more than doubling last year's numbers.

And of course April 26 saw 650 Heart Runners take to the London streets to run the gruelling 26 miles marathon route. A huge thank you to everyone who came along to help cheer on our heroic runners.

If you haven't signed up yet for a BHF Event this summer, don't worry!

We've got a fantastic range of runs, jogs, bike rides, walks, hikes and swims coming up over the next couple of months.

Find out more right now in the Events section of our website

Have you taken part, or are you taking part, in a BHF Event this year? If so, why not share your story by posting a comment below...

A Mother's Day Treat

Sunday 22 March is Mother's Day - and we've got some great ideas for pampering mothers.

Our online shop has a special selection of gorgeous girly gifts including spotted hangars, embroidered lavender bags (pictured), photo frames and necklaces and the charming 'name a rose' gift box.

Show your mum you really love her by looking after her heart. See our heart health top tips for mums.

Or why not plan to so something with all the family - we've loads of fun family events across the UK over the next few months - find one near you.

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.

Spoons man Peter hits the road to help hearts

A huge well done and thank you to all our BHF Heart Runners - around 1,000 of them in total - who took part in this year's BUPA Great North Run yesterday.

Among them was 82-year-old Peter "Mr Spoons" Lee (pictured right), from Kilmarnock, who took on his toughest challenge yet - and in doing so helped to raise vital funds for us.

Peter, 82, wore his official BHF Heart Runners vest and finished the half marathon course yesterday in three hours. He managed to raise £400 for the BHF - money that will help keep vulnerable hearts beating.

Heart patient and BHF fan Peter has previously featured in his Heart Runners top on ITV's The X Factor, when he auditioned by singing a version of Gene Kelly's Singing In The Rain while playing the spoons - watch his performance here

He said: “I joined the Heart Runners team because 16 years ago I had a triple heart bypass. By running I feel like I can give something back.

“I’m so proud to have run the Great North Run for the BHF. It was tough at times but knowing I was doing it for such a great cause kept me going.”

Julie Sorrell, our Head of Events, said: “The Great North Run is a major fundraising event for the BHF and thanks must go to all the Heart Runners and their sponsors for their support.

"The funds raised will ensure the BHF can continue to fund pioneering research that saves and improves lives.”

Heart and circulatory disease is still the UK’s single biggest killer. All funds raised by the Heart Runners team will help ensure the BHF can continue working to beat heart disease through its lifesaving research and vital prevention and care work.

Taking part in a BHF event is a great way to have fun, get fit and save lives. To apply for a place in the 2009 Great North Run visit bhf.org.uk/greatnorthrun - or call 0844 4771181.

Did you take part in the Great North Run yesterday? If so we'd love to hear from you about how it went. Simply add your comment below this post.

And just in case you missed this...

There were some great TV news pieces about our 2008 London to Brighton Bike Ride last weekend.

One of them was on BBC Breakfast News early on Sunday morning, but if you were taking part in - or making your way to - the Ride itself you will almost certainly have missed it.

Anyway, those very kind folk at the BBC and ITV have just given us permission to host the clips on our BHF YouTube video channel, so if you haven't seen them yet, here they are. First up, BBC Breakfast News...



And here's the ITV London Tonight news report...



Reminder - you can also see our gallery of 150 great photos taken at the Ride

And once again, if you took part in the London to Brighton Ride please let us know how you got on by posting a comment below.

Thanks very much to everyone who took part, and we look forward to hearing from you!

Enjoyed London to Brighton? Cyclists wanted for Vietnam to Cambodia

We're sure most of you have now fully recovered from the London to Brighton Bike Ride and are thinking about the next big challenge.

Good news. Places are still available for our Vietnam to Cambodia Bike Ride in November. This spectacular ride involves peddling from Ho Chi Minh City to the Cambodian border, along the banks of the Mekong River to the ancient temples of Angkor Wat.

Find out how you can enter by going to the Overseas events section our main website.

For other UK bike rides see our event finder.

Once again, if you took part in the London to Brighton Ride please let us know how you got on by posting a comment below. Thanks very much to everyone who took part, and we look forward to hearing from you!

London to Brighton Bike Ride - Individual rider photos now available!

We hope that the aches and pains of all our London to Brighton Bike Ride 2008 participants are now easing away, and being replaced by lots of happy memories of the big day!

It certainly seems that way judging by the comments being posted to yesterday's entry.

We'd also like to let you know that individual photos of riders are now available to purchase from our event partner Action Photos.

There is a cost for the photos, but this is all detailed on the website. It will take a few days to get them all on there - so if you can’t find yourself please try again later as your photo may not be up there yet.

Just select 'United Kingdom' and 'London to Brighton Bike Ride 2008' from the drop downs, and then enter your official BHF race number to find whether your photo was taken at the event.

You can also take a look at 150 general shots from the day on our online photo gallery

Once again, if you took part in the Ride please let us know how you got on by posting a comment below. Thanks very much to everyone who took part, and we look forward to hearing from you!

Well done and thanks to all our London to Brighton riders

A huge well done and thank you goes out to all of our 27,000 cyclists who took part in yesterday's London to Brighton Bike Ride!

You can see photos from the Ride in our online gallery

Riders from all over the UK turned out to cycle from the capital to the coast to raise funds for us in the largest charity cycle event of its kind in Europe.

The 54-mile event is our biggest fundraising event, raising over £3.9m in 2007. This year we hope the Ride will raise even more to help continue our lifesaving work.

Cyclists really took the event to heart this year, with all places selling out weeks ago. And since we became involved in 1980, over £42 million has been raised for us.

Julie Sorrell, our Head of Events, said: “The London to Brighton Bike Ride is a major fundraising event for us, and thanks must go to all the Riders and sponsors for their support.

"The funds raised from this year's Ride will make a huge difference to so many people’s lives and will help us continue our lifesaving work.”

You can see photos from the Ride in our online gallery

Did you take part in the Ride? If so, please let us know how you got on by posting a comment below. Once again, thanks very much to everyone who took part, we really look forward to hearing from you!

London to Brighton 2008 - a view from the saddle

Our very own Amy Burns, just one of the 27,000 participants in this year's London to Brighton Bike Ride, reports from the event...

You can see photos from the Ride in our online gallery

"After a slightly anxious night’s sleep thinking of the 55 miles I was due to ride the following day, I woke up very early on Sunday to bright sunshine, feeling pretty excited about taking part in the ride with my good friend Kat (that's her on the right in this photo).

"Arriving to a sea of people all 'gearing up' (!!) for the ride only heightened this excitement, while meeting up with Kat and seeing each other in padded cycling shorts proved to be highly amusing to us both.

"Waiting at the starting line, we weren’t entirely convinced when the PA announced it was 'all down hill to Brighton' at least he had a positive outlook … and we got away to a very smooth start with a clear road ahead - so far so good.

"Riding through London with Indiana Jones on our left and the Incredible Hulk on our right proved to be very exciting for the local kids who had woken up early for the event and were waving and clapping from their bedroom windows still in pyjamas.

"The first ten miles saw London thinning out and the greenery of Sussex begin - bus fumes were replaced by country smells, and Kat and I were both amazed by the ease and self sufficiently of leaving London on two wheels - we were having a great time!

"Wanting to pace ourselves, we decided to break after 12 miles at one of the many official BHF stops along the way- bike repair services, hot bacon rolls and toilets were just some of the very welcome services on offer at this village hall and there was a fantastic community feel.

"Scouts, families and councils had all pulled together to put on a really brilliant service for the riders and we were all made to feel enormously welcome already being greeted by 'well dones' and 'congratulations'.

"Riding through more villages we realised this was a quintessentially English event - more and more families were out to watch, cheer and clap and kids had set up trestle tables with drinks and sweets for the riders. One village we passed through even had a brass band, bunting and cake stalls.

"We decided to plough on until the 35 mile mark for our next break. By this point the padded cycling shorts had become a definite necessity and didn’t seem so amusing after all!

"Passing riders with images of their loved ones on their back really bought home why we were all here and made us more determined to not only enjoy this ride, but come back next year and raise even more for the BHF.

"After a well deserved bacon sarnie and some lucozade we got back on the road - by this point rumours were a rife - almost everyone we passed had a different theory on how long we had to go and was the beacon really impossible to bike up!?

"I think it was the idea of a nice cool beer that kept us both going, but at around 4pm, after having survived 'the beacon' (I even rode half of it!) we crossed the finishing line high on adrenalin and very proud of ourselves.

"It really was a fantastic day and Kat and I were both so pleased we did it. Everyone we met felt the same and all agreed the event was organised really well. I would definitely recommend the padded cycling shorts but other than feeling tired the next day, my body felt fine- I even biked into work today!"

You can see photos from the Ride in our online gallery

Did you take part in the Ride? If so, please let us know how you got on by posting a comment below. Once again, thanks very much to everyone who took part and we look forward to hearing from you!

Airbus staff get on their bikes for first North Wales Bike Ride

Best of luck to everone taking part in the BHF's first ever North Wales bike ride, taking place on Sunday 8 June.

Especially to the team from Airbus in Broughton, who have a team of 20+ staff members taking part!

Starting in Rhyl, the ride will follow a 15 mile route, travelling inland, before returning to finish back at the coast.

We expect around 400 people to take part in this inaugural event, who will raise over £20,000 to help support our vital work and research.

Apart from being a fun event to raise money for charity, it's a fantastic way to keep fit, get outside and stay healthy!

There's still plenty of time to get your bike out of the garden shed, start training and register for the event.

You can register online at bhf.org.uk/northwalesbikeride - or via the BHF Wales events team on 0800 783 6970 or walesevents@bhf.org.uk

If you don't live in or near to Wales, fear not - we have plenty of events taking part around the UK.

If you're unable to take part, you can still attend BHF events to cheer the participants on. We hope to see you there!

In our photo above are (left to right) Jonathan Williams, Steve Paul, Bryan Ackerley and Simon Quick, four of the Airbus, Broughton, team participants.