Yes, I know I have asked you before and this is my 4th time, but I do keep it to once a year and HEARTS & SOULS is such a deserving voluntary run local charity based in Wycombe hospital who support one of the best free Cardiac Rehabilitation programmes in the country that helped to transform my life.

This is particularly important this year as they have had to cancel all their usual fund raising activities due to COVID-19 and are now relying on donations.

Having benefited first hand from this excellent/invaluable/vital/essential (I can't pick the right word) service in 2017 after a heart attack and previously after another cardiac scare in 2013, it gave me the confidence and knowledge to go on to lose weight, improve my diet, exercise to regain my fitness & health levels which in turn led to running and improving my whole lifestyle and general well-being all without the fear of another cardiac event and made even just considering this challenge possible (nothing could have been further from my mind 3.5 years ago).

Reaching the same period of time as between my first cardiac episode and heart attack, I wanted to make sure my health and fitness had improved so planned to run this year’s Maidenhead half marathon to prove that landmark, my first half marathon since the 1993 Wycombe half marathon. As with so charitable opportunities this has been cancelled but I have remained determined to help the charity support recent local cardiac patients through these difficult and trying times so will be running this course on Sunday 27th Sept. with a few good friends from 'Your Pace or Mine' who are experienced long distance runners, so I am not alone.

I have much to be grateful to the cardiac rehab, giving me the knowledge, belief, confidence and inspiration to go on and make these changes and so wish to return the favour and help those who are now facing that same uncertainty and fear about their own future by running my first half marathon in 27 years, by far the longest distance I have attempted post heart attack.

HEARTS & SOULS is a registered charity set up in 1997 to raise more than £25,000 a year to fund the exercise classes, equipment and specialist trainers for the award-winning cardiac rehabilitation programme in Buckinghamshire, relying mainly on a small pool of ex-patients to raise donations to help todays patients. 

This helps around 1,000 patients get back to normal life after cardiac events every year.  This part of the rehabilitation programme is not funded by the NHS and relies entirely on charitable donations to keep it free at the point of use and without Hearts & Souls this service simply could not exist. 

You can find out all about Hearts & Souls at: www.heartsandsouls.org.uk

To read my full story from heart attack to recent events use this link https://peterjemmett.blogspot.com/

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

Please do support this effort, you never know when you or some-one close might be grateful for their help.

'Have a heart'