The numbers behind the campaign
British Heart Foundation
The BHF is the UK charity that funds research into heart and circulatory disease. It has been backing that science since 1961, and almost all of it is paid for by donations from the public rather than by government. Their published figures are why we're raising money for a defibrillator — we're not fundraising for the BHF itself.
The scale of it
The numbers behind the ask
Figures published by the BHF itself — the scale of the problem, and why fast defibrillation is what actually changes the outcome.
8m+
People living with heart or circulatory disease in the UK
bhf.org.uk/facts-and-figures
170,000
Deaths in the UK each year — one roughly every three minutes
bhf.org.uk/facts-and-figures
40,000+
Out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in the UK every year
bhf.org.uk/facts-and-figures
<1 in 10
Survive an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest
bhf.org.uk/facts-and-figures
Source: bhf.org.uk. Figures the BHF has published most recently — check their facts and figures page for anything more current.
Why a defibrillator
Because it lands close to home
Heart and circulatory conditions don't announce themselves. They turn up in fit people and unfit people, in the middle of a season and in the middle of a normal week. Most gyms have a story about it, and ours is no exception.
Training is the part we can control. What happens in the first few minutes after a cardiac arrest is the part a defibrillator controls — and the BHF's own figures show how much that first response matters. That's why the JMS Total and the JMS Challenge are raising money to put one in the gym: not for us to keep, but for anyone who ever needs it here.
What the BHF does
Three fronts, one problem
This is the BHF's own work, funded by their own donations — separate from our fundraiser, and the reason their figures carry weight.
- 01
Research
Funding scientists across UK universities and hospitals working on the causes, diagnosis and treatment of heart and circulatory disease.
- 02
Support
Information, helplines and services for people living with a diagnosis, and for the families around them.
- 03
Prevention
Public health work, CPR and defibrillator training, and campaigning to catch problems before they become emergencies.
Beyond money
Other things that genuinely help
- Learn CPR — the BHF runs free training that takes minutes
- Find out where your nearest defibrillator is
- Donate goods to, or shop at, a BHF charity shop
- Volunteer at one of their events, or at ours
- Share our fundraising page with people who'd back it
This site isn't the BHF
JMS Fitness isn't part of the British Heart Foundation, and this page isn't official BHF guidance — for that, and for anything medical, go to their site. The figures above are published by the BHF; what we're raising money for is ours.