BHF are one of the largest and most widely regarded charitable organisations in the UK and the reason is simple. Heart disease is something that will almost undoubtedly play a part in all our lives.

Those that know me will know I've always been one for statistics and those regarding coronary heart disease make for sombre reading. CHD kills more than any other disease (65,000 in 2010) and this is even more pronounced in the North of England where premature mortality rates are as much as 50% higher than the South in certain regions. The sad fact is that thousands of these deaths would be entirely preventable with better education and the pioneering research that the British Heart Foundation funds.

If you think BHF get enough donations already then consider the scope of their strategic aims. Over 1.2 million people in the UK have had a heart attack. Within a decade they hope to make sure that over 2/3 under the age of 75 will survive a heart attack and also to halve the number of people who die from cardiovascular disease.

The majority of us are complacent when it comes to looking after our hearts. Especially when we are young and believe it is something that we only have to worry about later in our lives.

Even if you don't want to donate anything, perhaps take the time to ask yourself whether your doing something that could help yourself in the future. Smoking, poor diet, physical inactivity and heavy drinking are the main contributors and i'm sure we've all ticked at least one of these boxes. I don't intend to preach on the virtues of this as i am as guilty as the next person but even if you just ask yourself whether you can do one thing to improve your lifestyle then it will have been worth my time and effort.

What effort i hear thee cry?

Well, I intend to cycle the width of England from Walney in Cumbria, through the Lake District, through the Yorkshire Dales and through the North York moors to Whitby. Three national parks and i suspect a lot of hills and pain.

There is no way I could do this on my own as i'm bound to break an ankle or crash into a wall and so i've managed to persuade Stuart Pinchin that this is a brilliant idea and we're not in fact going to die. He is currently in America and to make it more challenging he's doing it a couple of days after he gets back. The route has possible variations but the journey will be at least 145-175 miles. In the instances we have a choice its usually a case of shorter distance but bigger hills so either way there is pain! We aim to achieve this in 2.5-3 days from Sat Sep 18th- Mon Sep 20th.

In doing so we hope to at least untick the box for physical inactivity for a few days at least and all we ask is for you to donate whatever you can even if it is just to revel in our pain. To make it more of a challenge we will attempt to do this with really piss poor preparation. This includes bikes that will likely fall apart/ have the brakes half locked on, no fancy schmancy equipment and barely any fitness preparation whatsoever.

If you don't want to donate then that is fine, thankyou for taking the time to read this. If you do then using justgiving is really easy. If you want to do it the old fashioned way, i will have a form on me at all times if you see me or even if you want to just pledge a small amount by sending me a text (07825 018021) or email (timtim28@googlemail.com) and remember no amount is too small, i don't care if it's only 50p but it would be brilliant if we could reach or even exceed the target amount. As an added incentive every pound you donate will be doubled up to the point the target is reached so get in there quick!

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

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So please dig deep and donate now.