Six weeks ago I started the CoeurCycliste blog and social media accounts with the aim of raising awareness of heart disease, with the hope that I can prevent someone else from having a Myocardial Infarction (Heart Attack) due to their lifestyle choices.

On Twitter, I began following various heart charities and foundations, especially as I had just started my random monthly coffee money donations. Out of all of the charities I followed the Pumping Marvellous Foundation, a patient led Heart Failure charity in the UK, was the only one to reach out to me and take an interest in me and what I was doing.

Over the next couple of weeks, without me asking, Pumping Marvellous promoted my blog and  introduced me to fellow heart patients. Some of who had also taken up the challenge to fight heart disease through running and cycling raising funds for charity.  I was very impressed with the work they are doing and what it offers its beneficiaries, some of which are listed here: –

1. Supporting – heart failure patients, family, friends and carers
2. Advocacy – representing the opinions and needs of heart failure patients
3. Self Management – help on how to self manage a heart condition
4. Partnership – working with clinicians and decision makers to improve the care for people with heart failure
5. Access – working with stakeholders in heart failure towards universal access of the best drugs and interventions
6. Awareness – key to increasing the quality of care

As a result of this one single connection I have met one of my aims, offering HOPE to real heart patients that there is a future after such a life changing event.

I previously supported the British Heart Foundation and raised just over £1600 for them in a couple of cycle rides.  Please don’t get me wrong, the British Heart Foundation are doing fantastic work in the field of research. However, I now feel that the smaller charities need funding just as much, if not more so. Especially those working hand in hand with patients and families at what can be one of the most difficult periods in someones life.

More out of interest than any real need I looked at the public annual accounts submitted to Companies House for both the British Heart Foundation and Pumping Marvellous for the last reporting year (March 2014).  The BHF income for the period was £275 million whilst Pumping Marvellous income was just £103,500.  I now really wish that I chosen to support them earlier, my £1600 would have equated to nearly 1.6% of income compared to the 0.0006% of the BHF income.

I am proud to be a supporter of and fundraiser for Pumping Marvellous, they cannot do the much needed and valued work without funds.  Therefore, I have challenged myself to cycle from London to Paris in less than 24 hours.  This challenge coincides with the 5th anniversary of my heart attack, it’s not going to be easy by any stretch of the imagination, but that’s what makes it a challenge.

It would be fantastic if you could help me and Pumping Marvellous by making a donation. Knowing that people have given their support and hard earned money makes each mile (I’ve got 190 of them to cover) that little bit easier!  If you would like to donate you can do so on my JustGiving page or if you are in the UK you can text DANG72 followed by either £1, £2, £3, £4, £5 or £10 to 70070

 

Please donate, however small, it will mean so much to both Pumping Marvellous and myself.

Go on, you know you want to 🙂

Thank you in advance!   Please note – I am self funding the challenge, so all of the money donated will go to Pumping Marvellous.

For more detailed information please take a look at the Pumping Marvellous website and twitter feed on how they are helping not only patients but their families, friends and carers as well.

Dan (@CoeurCycliste) – Fundraising for Pumping Marvellous