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Help fight heart disease

Help 639,000 people living with heart and circulatory disease in the south west by wearing red for the British Heart Foundation.

The BHF is calling on residents to join the fight against heart disease and sign up to Wear It. Beat It on Friday, June 9.

The British Heart Foundation is calling on everyone in the south west to join the fight against heart disease by wearing red and hosting a red-themed fundraising event to raise money for life-saving research.

The BHF is helping to end the devastation caused by heart disease by funding about £100m of cutting-edge research each year. We currently fund about £22m of research into projects at Bath University, Bournemouth University and Bristol University.

These include Professor Alistair Poole and his team’s study into whether platelets, or cells in the blood, help to repair the heart after a heart attack.

Understanding how platelets help to control heart repair after a heart attack may reveal new ways to control platelets and may help doctors decide how to use existing anti-platelet drugs better.

By signing up to Wear It. Beat It you can help power more life-saving discoveries. Whether it’s at home, a school or at your workplace, don your favourite red garments and join the fun across the UK by organising a red-themed fundraising event. Whatever you choose to do, Wear It. Beat It is a great way to bring everyone together and help make a difference to millions.

Last year more than 15,000 people took part in Wear It. Beat It, raising more than £750,000. The BHF is calling for even more of you to get involved this year and help raise £1m for the charity’s heart research.

Once you sign up you’ll receive a free fundraising kit jam-packed with ready-made ideas. Visit wearitbeatit.bhf.org.uk for more information or call 0300 330 0645.

ADRIAN ADAMS, Head of mass participation, British Heart Foundation

Thank you for support

During National Volunteers’ Week (June 1-7) I would like to pay tribute to all of our volunteers at Wiltshire Air Ambulance.

We are a small team and our volunteers are so important in helping to raise the £3.25m a year we need to operate our lifesaving service and for our major fundraising appeal to raise the remaining £1.25m for our new airbase at Semington, near Melksham.

Our volunteers give up their free time to spread the word about our lifesaving work. As well as volunteering in our shops, they represent us by attending events which raise funds for us, by manning stalls and selling our merchandise, in all weathers.

They also give talks to groups in the community, carry out bucket collections and sort and distribute our 30,000 Christmas cards.

We have many requests to attend community events which raise funds for Wiltshire Air Ambulance and in 2016 our volunteers covered 163 events, amounting to about 1,304 hours – an incredible achievement and thank you to everyone who took part!

We are truly grateful to our volunteers for their commitment and we’d love for more people to join us.

If you are interested in volunteering drop us a line at hello@wiltshireairambulance.co.uk or call the charity team on 01380 739453.

JEMMA BROWN, Volunteer Manager, Wiltshire Air Ambulance

Break the cancer taboo

RECENTLY I turned 57, placing me firmly in two risk categories for prostate cancer.

I’ve recently starting working with Prostate Cancer UK and I’ve come to learn that as a black man over 50, my risk of the disease is double that of a white man the same age. One in four black men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime compared one in eight white men.

But despite the shocking odds, I find it more concerning that just saying the word ‘prostate’ in many black communities remains such a taboo subject. The disease is not spoken about, and if it is, it’s in a ‘hush hush, don’t tell anyone’ type of way. How can it be that something that affects so many black fathers, uncles, sons, and friends is continually swept under the carpet and ignored?

My physical and mental health has always been important to me. When I was in the prime of my career, it was the most important thing. However, as I’ve grown older I’ve come to realise that no matter how well I eat, or how fit I am, I am not indestructible – nobody is. But there are defence measures I can take and arming myself with knowledge is by far the most important.

That’s why I’m supporting Prostate Cancer UK’s Stronger Knowing More campaign and I’m urging all your black readers to do the same. Understand your risk of prostate cancer and act on it. This challenge is a marathon, not a sprint and if we’re going to beat it, the whole black community needs to start breaking down taboos and start talking.

LINFORD CHRISTIE, Prostate Cancer UK

Bees are vital to life

OUR bees aren’t just an iconic sign of a British summer, they are vital for pollinating much of the food we enjoy every day, and the wildflowers that decorate our countryside.

But Britain’s bees are under threat, with about 35 UK species considered to be at risk of extinction, from loss of habitats, pesticides and intensive farming.

This is why Friends Of The Earth is organising the Great British Bee Count, which runs until June 30.

By downloading a fun, free app you can find out more about bees that visit your area, and find out what you can do to help them, such as creating bee-friendly spaces. And you can also send in sightings and photos of the bees you spot.

Join the buzz at greatbritishbeecount.co.uk or search for ‘Great British Bee Count’ in your app store.

CRAIG BENNETT, Chief executive, Friends Of The Earth