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).

Heart Runners make it a Marathon effort

A huge well done and thank you to all of our BHF Heart Runners who took part in the 2009 Flora London Marathon yesterday!

All in all around 650 Heart Runners set out from the start in Greenwich to run the 26-mile course to the finish line in The Mall, raising hundreds of thousands of pounds to help our fight against heart disease.

Once again, a big thank you to everyone, including the dozens of BHF supporters who turned out at our bright red cheering points along the Marathon course.

See our online photo galleries from the 2009 Marathon

Did you take part in the Marathon? Share your own time and your story of the day with us and others by posting a comment below!

On your marks for London to Brighton 2009!

For the first time ever, we're pleased to announce that this year you'll be able to register online for the nation's favourite charity cycling event, our own London to Brighton Bike Ride which takes place on Sunday 21 June.

Entrants to most other BHF bike rides have enjoyed online registration facilities for several years, but with around 27,000 participants in London to Brighton it's a much bigger undertaking than our other smaller, regionally-based events.

A number of L2B entrants who have qualified for priority places in this year's ride - by raising £125 or more in last year's event - have been using the new online registration system successfully since last month.

Standard place online registration starts from 1 March and you will be able to access it then at
bhf.org.uk/london-brighton

Find out more about the ride, how you can enter offline, plus see videos, photos and reports from the 2008 event, in our London to Brighton Bike Ride section

Have you ever taken part in the ride, and would you like to recommend anyone else to do it?
Do you have any training tips or fundraising advice etc?
If so, please leave a comment below...

Heart Runners at the 2008 Great North Run

Take a look at our fantastic photos of Heart Runners who took part in last weekend's BUPA Great North Run, which we've posted on our Flickr online gallery.

Around 1,000 Heart Runners turned out for us and are hoping to raise more than £350,000 for our fight against heart disease, the UK's biggest killer.

Our thanks and congratulations once again to everyone who took part.

See the photos from the day now

Jogging for hearts

We've been overwhelmed by the success of this year’s Woburn Abbey Jog.

More than 500 joggers turned up to take part - that's double the number from last year.

We're hoping to raise £25,000 from this year’s jog and are well on target, but still need your help to reach the magic number - every penny really does make a difference.

Event Organiser, Robert Cox says: “A heartfelt thank you from everyone at the British Heart Foundation. Thanks to the money you raise the BHF will make even more progress with life-saving care in the community.”

To find out about our autumn and winter events near you, see our Event Finder on our main website.

A Tale of Two University Cities

The fifth annual Oxford to Cambridge Hearts First Bike Ride took place on Sunday and saw approximately 950 cycling heroes tackling the 89 mile route in aid of the BHF.

Starting in the centre of Oxford, the popular bike ride then headed off through Oxfordshire and into Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire, taking in some truly breathtaking scenery along the way. Riders finished in the heart of Cambridge on Midsummer Common.

Last year’s cyclists raised £134,000 of life saving funds. Event Manager Melanie Blackman is hoping sponsors will be just as generous this year.

Two top fundraiser prizes of a night in the Oxford Belfry and the Cambridge Belfry hotels with breakfast, courtesy of QHotels, are up for grabs to those sending in their sponsorship before 5th December.

Melanie said: "It was a fantastically well supported event. The fog at the start of the ride did add a little extra challenge but the sun soon shone through offering riders views of the spectacular countryside around them."

At the finish, riders were awarded a commemorative medal, free BHF t-shirt and relaxing massage. The RJ Ride Guide stunt team showed just how much control you can have over a bike with a breathtaking display of bravery. And for those ready to kick back and relax in the sunshine, delicious crepes, jacket potatoes, ice cream and a bar offered welcome refreshment.

Fancy cycling for the BHF? Find out more about our Hearts First Bike Ride events

Calling all James Bond fans!

For one night only, we’ve got a licence to thrill, delight and revel in all things 007!

2008 celebrates the centenary of Ian Fleming, author of the James Bond novels, who died from heart attack in 1964. He was just 56.

As a grand finale to the centenary year, a glamorous, star-studded gala night is being held in aid of the BHF. The event takes place at 7.30pm, Sunday 5th October, at the London Palladium.

Hosted by Joanna Lumley and Stephen Fry, the evening features stars from the worlds of film and theatre, as well some of the biggest names in music performing their favourite Bond themes.

A sneak preview clip from the new James Bond film, A Quantum of Solace, along with other special surprises will ensure that it is an evening not to be missed!

Check out our website for full details of the event.

Buy tickets online from See Tickets or by calling 0844 4124657.

Brighton swimmers plunge in to help fight heart disease

The sun was shining all day in Brighton as over 260 people braved the sea to raise money for the BHF and help them fight the UK’s single biggest killer, heart disease.

It was the second year of the BHF’s Brighton Sea Swim and it was certainly successful. The weather was beautiful and the sea looked fairly calm. However, the swimmers faced a challenging one mile swim, as easterly winds and a strong current made it hard work.

It was a great fun day out; but for others it meant a bit more. To Danielle Lade, aged 23, and her family, the BHF is close to their hearts.

Danielle’s grandfather, Chris Lade, who came from Brighton, sadly passed away last year. He’d had a triple heart bypass in 1998 and had become very poorly in recent years. He was a keen swimmer and swam at Hove beach every morning come rain or shine. The family swam in a group of four named 'Grandad Lade’s Happy Days Team', in his memory.

Danielle said: “It was a tough swim, however I really enjoyed it, plus having a day out with the family and remembering Grandad was lovely.”

Regional Event Organiser, Fran Watson said: “We are extremely pleased with the event and would like to thank everyone for taking such a big plunge into cold waters. All money raised will help us continue our fight against heart disease. We are really looking forward to next year!”

Buy pictures of the Brighton Sea Swim.

Find out you can take part in our events

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!

Footballers turn out to Help a Heart

BHF supporters in the West Midlands will once again get together this Saturday for the annual Help a Heart football match.

Players and officials from the West Midlands Christian Football League will turn out at Aldersley Stadium with all proceeds raised going to the charity.

Event organiser Thomas Baugh commented, “This is the third year we’ve played the match and it’s brilliant that everyone comes down to support the BHF.”

“It’s always a great match and this year we should raise more money than ever after getting major sponsorship from a sports injury website.”

Are you organising a fundraising event for us? If so post a comment on this blog or and we’ll try to promote it here!

Bostin boost for heart health

Support Donato Esposito and help him reach his aim of raising £5,000 for the BHF, as he hikes the Inca Trail this month.

Donato is the Founder of the Bostin Group and is selling these limited edition 'Feel the Bostin Love' T-shirts in aid of the BHF on the Bostin website

If you were wondering, Bostin is acutally a Brummie term for 'brilliant'. And it certainly is a bostin idea for an even more bostin cause!

Get one of these limited edition tees now, in time for summer!

You can also show your support for Donato on his BHF Sponsor Page

See how you too can help us raise funds so that we can continue our vital work and research.

BHF runners bolt in the sun to raise £30,000

More than 800 people turned out in the brilliant sunshine on Sunday to take part in the BHF's 10km Blenheim Bolt, which raised approximately £30,00 for us.

Margaret Morley walked the course after having surgery to replace a heart valve just over a year ago.

This time last year, 70 year old Margaret could walk no more than 50 yards. She said: "The British Heart Foundation have given me my life back...since I got the new valve I'm much better."

Congratulations to everyone who took part in the Blenheim Bolt and thank you for your support!

The Bolt was won by Oxford University graduate Tucker Murphy.

Find out how you can get involved with the BHF or find an event to take part in.