I AM writing to you on behalf of people and families in the North West who suffer the often devastating effects of heart and circulatory diseases, which include heart disease, stroke and vascular dementia, and their risk factors like Type-2 diabetes.

Each year, these conditions account for 5,383 deaths in the North West, which is why the British Heart Foundation is committed to funding over £100m of pioneering research each year to stop one in four lives in the UK being taken too soon.

Over the last 60 years, so much of our work has only been possible thanks to the amazing individuals who have remembered the BHF in their will.

These very special gifts fund half of our research and have the power to make a lasting difference to the lives of future generations.

We are asking you to join us and become part of tomorrow's lifesaving breakthroughs.

By including a gift to the BHF in your will, you can help us beat heartbreak forever. We call it Will Power.

In 1961, the UK faced an epidemic of heart and circulatory diseases that accounted for more than half of the deaths in the UK.

Now, thanks to BHF-funded research and the generosity of our incredible supporters, more than seven-out-of-ten people who suffer a heart attack, survive.

But our work isn't done yet.

Heart and circulatory diseases claim the life of one person every three minutes in the UK, tearing families and loved ones apart.

It doesn't have to be this way; you have the power to change this by leaving a gift to the BHF in your will.

A gift of any size, after you've provided for your loved ones, can enable us to discover new ways to prevent, treat and cure the world's biggest killers.

To find out more about leaving a gift in your will, visit www.bhf.org.uk/wills

Simon Gillespie, chief executive, British Heart Foundation