Working with heart!

We're counting down to World Heart Day on 27 September 2009.

World Heart Day is a global event aimed at spreading the message that heart disease is the world’s leading cause of death, claiming 17.2 million lives each year.

We are a member of the event's creators, the World Heart Federation, and are helping to make people aware that 80% of premature deaths from heart disease could be saved if key risk factors such as smoking, bad diet and physical inactivity are avoided.

World Heart Day this year is based on the theme of inspiring health in the workplace - which is also the subject of our brand new Health at Work website.

You can read more about World Heart Day and how to join a Facebook group for the event here

Red all about it yet?

As you may or may not be aware, February is National Heart Month.

We're asking people to go Red for Heart this month, and the reasons why - and how you go about it - are pretty clearly spelled out in our special campaign video podcast, which you can watch below.



You can see what everyone else is up to either by checking out our Red for Heart page on Facebook or browsing our Red for Heart photo gallery on Flickr

Our Red for Heart website has more on how to order a fundraising pack, find and buy Red products online or in the High Street - or simply to make a donation to support our pioneering, life-saving research work.

Tell us and everyone else what you're planning to get up to - anything Red goes! - by posting a comment below...

Why not become a Fan of the BHF?

Have you checked in to our BHF Facebook page (pictured right) yet?

We're beginning to build up a bit of a head of steam, about to pass 700 fans and with a relatively lively 42 posts on The Wall.

It's great to see and read so many posts from people with a positive experience of the BHF and the vital, pioneering and caring work we carry out.

In one of the latest posts, Joan Kelly from Leeds writes: "It happened to me! In 2002 nothing to indicate anything was wrong, I was 47.....Bang..it hit me...At first i thought i was having some sort of panic attacks, How wrong was i . Keep up your fantastic work BHF...your priceless."

That work would simply not be possible without the enthusiastic support of our thousands of fundraisers who take part in our events, join other events to fundraise for us, or simply organise their own.

Some have posted on The Wall, and it's great to see what they're up to.

So why not join this growing group by becoming a Fan of the BHF and posting your message on The Wall. We look forward to seeing you over there!

Alternatively, you can also post your comments and messages in response to this post below...

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.

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...