Contact has now been made with the presidents and research leads of specialist societies across the cardiovascular community. The aim of this communication was to introduce the BHF CRC, describe the resources available to support research efforts and outline our aspirations for the next few years. Though the support and resources available will evolve over time, the collaborative is now available to support research group meetings to enable groups to either begin forming or continue with the next steps of their research efforts. The resources available includes meeting space at the BCS offices in London, administrative coordination and minute taking and some financial support towards reasonable travel expenses and refreshments. We will be engaging further with each group on an individual basis to gather an understanding of their current standing with regards to clinical research, how best to work with them to improve and develop over time and encourage a collaborative approach across disease areas and themes. It is also important to us that we bring in expertise from cross-cutting areas such as nursing, junior doctors and patients to ensure an informed and democratic approach to research.