Debbie Cheeseman, area manager, British Heart Foundation, writes:

With spring just around the corner, I wanted to encourage people to keep the BHF in mind during their spring clearout this year and donate any unwanted items to their local BHF shop to help fund life-saving heart research.

It is a sad reality that there are an estimated 638,900 people living with heart and circulatory disease in the south west.

The BHF funds more than £100m worth of research throughout the UK each year into fighting these terrible diseases, from improving ­diagnoses to finding new life-saving treatments, to help create a better future for everyone affected.

It is because of the charity’s generous supporters that it is able to fund this truly groundbreaking heart research.

Donating any good-quality items from your spring clearout to the BHF is a really simple way that everyone can get involved and help in the fight for every heartbeat. Each item donated, from books and bags to clothes and CDs, will be much appreciated by your local BHF shop.

To help make the process completely hassle-free, the BHF offers a free home collection service, which can be booked through your local shop or by calling the Freephone number on 08009 153000.

If you are a UK taxpayer you can also Gift Aid your donation, which helps us to make an extra 25p for each £1 raised from your unwanted items and costs you nothing in return.

To find your local shop, order free donation bags or find out more about the BHF’s free collection service, please visit bhf.org.uk/bagit.