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.

From sofa slouch to exercise addict

Everyone has different motivations for exercising – from losing weight or letting off steam, to getting fit or keeping active in retirement.

But if you haven’t set foot in a gym since school, making that first move can be the hardest part.

Take for example BHF Heart Runner Andy Baston. Aged 43, he has a family history of heart attacks and a high-stress job as an air traffic controller. Andy worried for his health, but used to be too exhausted to do anything about it.

Then, two years ago, a friend said he was going to enter the London Marathon. Andy decided to take stock of his sedentary lifestyle and joined a running group at his gym.

Andy says: "The following year I ran a 10k race and a half marathon for the British Heart Foundation, and this year I ran the London Marathon for BHF in three hours 50 minutes.

"I couldn't believe it. Now (my wife) Tina has run a 10k race. If we can do it, anyone can. There's even a man of 75 who runs with my group.

"Competing for charity is close to my heart and will hopefully give me more years than my father and grandfather could enjoy."

If you’ve got an individual place in the Flora London Marathon, find out how you can run for the BHF

Find out how you can get active for your heart

Read more about Andy plus other inspiring stories on the Daily Mail's website

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...