The appeal to raise £500,000 to fund the creation of a new heart centre at the West Suffolk Hospital, in Bury St Edmunds, is taking to the road this week.

It comes in the shape of eye-catching banners on the back of 22 Mulleys’ buses and has the message: “1 person every 3 minutes dies of cardiovascular disease in the UK. Could this be you?” And it asks people to help the hospital enhance cardiac care.

Mulleys, which has its depot just off the A143 at Ixworth, is supplying space on its vehicles with KCP truck and bus parts supporting the initiative and Show Off Graphics supplying the design and graphics for the banners.

Now the My WiSH Charity’s Every Heart Matters appeal can be seen round the town and further afield on the buses, which have routes all over Bury, Newmarket, Mildenhall, and all the villages in between.

The West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust is investing £5.2m in developing a state of the art cardiac suite that will provide quicker access to more treatments, but the £500,000 My WiSH Charity is hoping to raise will lead to the whole unit, which is currently fragmented on different floors, being brought together in one purpose-built centre.

Mulleys has 35 vehicles in its fleet but the 22 being branded with the appeal are the ones used to transport passengers round West Suffolk ... and there are three different designs for the double and single decker buses.

David Munson, the owner of Mulleys, said: “We hoping that the signs on the back of the buses will help get the message out about the appeal.

“You hear of so many people with heart problems and many do not know they have the complaint until it’s too late. And it seems everyone knows of people with heart problems.

“I hope what we are doing will help the charity to raise the money that they need.”

John Dorling, the owner of Show Off Graphics, which is based in Stanton, said the displays are 2 metres wide and 100mm high, the size of a normal car windscreen.

“They are nice and visible and will be seen by many, many people. We designed and fitted them on the buses and donated our time towards them,” he said.

And Paul Whiting, director of KCP which is based on the Hillside Business Park on the Moreton Hall Estate and supplied the materials for the banners, said: “It’s nice to get involved in something like this as it is a very worthwhile cause and we hope it will raise awareness of the appeal.”

Sally Daniels, campaign manager for the appeal, said: “We cannot thank John and David enough for their support. This is an incredible opportunity for us to engage with the public and make them aware of not only the appeal, but also about how common heart disease is. We can’t wait to see the buses out and about, it’s all very exciting”.

If you want to support the Every Heart Matters appeal go to the website www.mywishcharity.co.uk

If you would like to donate to the appeal you can do so by going to

Justgiving.com/ehma or text EHMA17 £10 to 70070.