A GENEROUS Abertillery teacher is hoping to make a difference on her wedding day.

Claire Coles, a Welsh teacher at Abertillery Comprehensive, and her fiance Paul Morse, a social worker, have asked friends and family not to buy any wedding gifts.

Instead, they are asking for donations to the British Heart Foundation.

The charity means a lot to the couple as there is a long history of heart problems in Miss Coles' family.

Miss Coles has lost three grandparents to heart-related problems and just a few weeks ago, her father, Haydn Coles, 56, of Swansea, also suffered a heart attack.

Mr Coles has now been released from hospital and is making a good recovery.

Miss Coles said: "It came as such a massive shock because my Dad is very fit, we are just so pleased he is going to be okay."

Miss Coles and her fiance, both 27 of Cardiff, have been together for five years and will be getting married on August 2 during a cruise around the US Virgin Islands.

Miss Coles said: "The British Heart Foundation have been so helpful. They've given us feedback on travel insurance for my Dad so that he can come to the wedding.

"It means the world to me that my Dad is there."

But she is very modest about her generous gesture. She said: "There wasn't anything we needed.

"We feel that this is one time in our lives when we are able to give something back - I'd like to think that other people could be as lucky as my Dad."