Our Activities
As the nation's heart charity, the British Heart Foundation focuses on three vital things:
- Investing in pioneering research
We fund around 1,200 research projects investigating every aspect of heart disease - from causes and safer drugs to improving surgical techniques.
- Supporting and caring for heart patients
We fund BHF Nurses who visit heart patients with all types of heart conditions in their homes. We provide defibrillators and echocardiograph machines for hospitals, emergency services and first-aiders.
- Providing vital information to help people reduce their own risk of dying prematurely from a heart or circulatory related illness
We produce publications, videos and other materials for health professionals and the public including children. We inform people about how to improve the health of their heart through public information campaigns, advertising and the media.
Some vital facts and figures
- There are over 400 BHF Heart Nurses caring for patients across the UK.
- Over 1,620 Heartstart UK schemes teach people what to do in an emergency. More than 1.6 million people have been trained by Heartstart UK in schools and the community.
- The BHF invests over £137 a minute on research to keep the nation's hearts healthy.

British Heart Foundation
Date Published: 24/06/09