The article on this page (which refers to Solihull Heart Support Group) is reproduced with kind permission of the British Heart Foundation.

The BHF is particularly keen to support those usually excluded from rehabilitation, such as elderly patients or those with angina or heart failure or from ethnic minorities.

Much more than tea and sympathy

Shirley Hall loves her job. She is one of the BHF's seven cardiac support advisers, whose task is to develop a support network for patients recovering from heart problems in England and Wales. The advisers have a health care background and a wide experience of cardiac patients and rehabilitation.

Shirley "shepherds" 50 or so heart support groups in central England. She explains, "these groups aren't just about tea and sympathy. All provide fantastic support, advice and motivation for heart patients. Over half offer exercise classes. It's tremendously satisfying to launch a new group and hear 70 people telling you how much they are getting out of it.

"The success of the 260-plus groups affiliated to the BHF is also a testament to the people who give up their time to run them. Heart support groups make a great deal of difference and help heart patients get the most out of living with heart disease."

Take Mike Lines. In 1994 Mike and his wife Trish set up a heart support group with help from a BHF cardiac support adviser. After hearing he needed a heart bypass, Mike found the reassurance of friends and family with heart disease a great comfort. He called the Foundation, as he wanted to meet others in the same boat. There wasn't a group locally, so he decided to set up his own - the Solihull Heart Support Group - to help other heart patients and their partners or carers as well as himself.

"We visit Shirley's regional workshops where we learn all sorts of useful tips for us and the group. And she attends our open days, speaks at meetings and is generally there for us. If I have a problem or need a second opinion, Shirley always has great ideas to help."

Over 330 heart patients have now been helped by the group, plus many partners and carers. Mike and his wife Trish also raise funds for the BHF and help out with events organised by the Charity's regional office in Birmingham. Their group is not only at the heart of the country - it really is at the heart of the BHF.