Almost 2.6 million people in the UK are living with coronary heart disease, and unfortunately, cardiovascular disease is the main cause of death and premature death in the UK.

This month, The British Heart Foundation is calling on the people of Oxford to take part in the nation’s biggest stock appeal – The Big Donation – and help fight heart disease. They are asking people to donate good quality items to help reach its target of stock.

The charity is aiming to achieve £7m worth of donations nationwide. That is equivalent to 350,000 bags of good quality stock, which can be taken into BHF shops, or into participating Argos, Homebase or Lidl stores across the country. You can pick up plastic bags to put your donations in at any of these stores. At the end of 2008, the British Heart Foundation (BHF) launched the Hearts of Oxford Appeal to raise funds in support of a BHF nurse to work specifically with patients who have inherited heart conditions.

Congenital Heart Disease is a major cause of death in childhood. The BHF crucial research aims to ensure fewer babies are born with heart disease in the future, and those that are receive effective treatments throughout their life. The Hearts of Oxford appeal aims to raise £125,000 in support of this nurse post over the next two years. The British Heart Foundation has long-standing and very successful links with Oxfordshire. It has funded heart research at the John Radcliffe Hospital, and in the science area of the university for many years. The charity has recently made Oxford a ‘Centre of Research Excellence’, with grants covering major work over the next six years.These fund research into a number of issues, including why around 4,600 babies are born in the UK every year with Congenital Heart Disease, and the possibility of obtaining clearer images inside the body to give heart patients earlier and more precise diagnosis, and tailor treatments accordingly. As well as its pioneering research, the British Heart Foundation also funds a Heart Helpline; BHF cardiac nurses; essential cardiac equipment, and aims to educate people to take better care of their hearts. If you are a heart patient, take statins or have received treatment with aspirin and clot-busting drugs following a heart attack, the research teams in Oxford have already been of assistance to you, and could be of assistance in the future. If you would like to become a BHF volunteer, or help with the Hearts of Oxford Appeal, telephone: Kathee Coonerty, Volunteer Fundraising Manager, on 01993 891366.