Heart charity appeals for people in Milton Keynes to help beat heart disease

Around 24,900 people across the Milton Keynes area are fighting a daily battle with heart and circulatory disease. Each year these devastating conditions claim the lives of more than 394 people alone.

The nation’s heart charity is calling on the Milton Keynes community to take heart and join the fight against heart disease by joining our community volunteer groups and raising vital funds for heart research.

Community volunteer groups are the face of the BHF in their local communities. From running fundraising events to supporting schools and local businesses and organising collections, they are a fantastic way to support the charity’s vital work. We are especially looking for new volunteers to join the group as a group member, collection tin coordinator, In Memorial secretary or a community speaker.

Every pound raised from BHF community volunteer groups will help fund vital research and identify new treatments that could help save lives.

Congenital Heart Defects (CHD’s) are the most common form of birth defects in UK, affecting one in every 125 babies born. Thanks to critical research, the number of children who survive being born with a heart defect has improved dramatically in recent years. In 1961 only 20% lived to their first birthday. Now the number of children dying has fallen by more than 80%, but CHD’s are still the No. 1 cause of death from a birth defect - killing twice as many children as cancer every year.

“Heart disease is heartless. Too many lives are lost in Milton Keynes each year, and we’re determined to do everything we can to protect more families from this devastation,” the charity said.

“By joining the community volunteer group you can help fund the research that’s so desperately needed to bring us closer to beating heart disease. Together we can save more lives, and it’s a fantastic way to meet new people and make a real difference in your community!”

BHF research has helped halve death rates from heart and circulatory disease over the past 50 years, but there is still a long way to go. Through the public’s generosity the BHF will fund half a billion pounds of new research by 2020.

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