NEW figures released by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) show residents in Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Warwickshire amassed an incredible £296,902 for the charity’s life-saving research last year by fundraising in their community.

People across the three counties have shown they’re all heart, undertaking countless fundraising activities – from the weird to the wonderful – in their unstoppable pursuit to raise urgently needed funds for the BHF’s life saving research, helping fund vital breakthroughs in the fight against heart and circulatory disease.

This includes:

• More than £10,000 raised through partnerships with local business

• Around £1,500 raised through local clubs and associations

• More than £13,700 raised through local school fundraising

• More than £41,000 raised by fundraisers holding their own event for the BHF’s Do Your Own Thing campaign.

Karen Robinson, Herefordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire Fundraising Manager at the BHF, said: “As the nation’s heart charity we rely entirely on the enormous generosity of our supporters to continue our life saving work.

“To raise such an incredible amount in 12 months is extraordinary. Pennies really do amount to pounds and so I’d like to personally thank every single person for their support. Your donations are vital to our research, and will help us to save more lives.”

Heart and circulatory disease kills one person every three minutes in the UK. Thanks to the generosity of communities across the UK, the BHF is funding research that has been, and is today, central to discovering new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat heart and circulatory disease.

By 2020 the BHF will have funded half a billion pounds of life saving research, to help accelerate the fight against these devastating conditions which claim the lives of nearly 160,000 people in the UK each year.

To get involved in the fight against heart disease and be part of the 2017 fundraising revolution people can raise funds for the BHF in your local area visit www.bhf.org.uk/get-involved/fundraising or contact Karen Robinson on 07388945024 or email robinsonka@bhf.org.uk.