Charity champions
- £200 could fund a BHF Junior Research Scientist for a whole day.
Charity champions
2005/06 was a great year for the thousands of dedicated supporters who, like Christian, were motivated to take part in national and regional events across the country and raise vital funds for the British Heart Foundation.
Action
Seven hundred and fifty BHF Heart Runners tackled the gruelling 26-mile course in the 25th Flora London Marathon, and with such a great turnout we had high hopes for hitting our £650,000 target. In September it was also the turn of the BUPA Great North Run to celebrate its 25th anniversary, with 600 BHF Heart Runners crossing the finish line.
Sponsored once again by Shredded Wheat, our flagship London to Brighton Bike Ride celebrated its 30th birthday in 2005. It's incredible that the tiny event that began with a mere 30 riders has become the biggest cycling event in Europe with 27,000 riders taking part. Since the Ride started in 1980, our enthusiastic bikers have pedalled millions of miles and raised £27.5 million for the fight against heart disease.
Across the regions, from Bute to Bournemouth and Cardiff to Carlisle, we held a host of exciting events where dedicated runners, joggers, bikers, skiiers, climbers, swimmers and even Santas rose to the challenge to do their bit for the BHF.
And our fundraisers didn’t restrict their activities to the UK. Hundreds set out on BHF World Experiences, which took them to Europe and across the globe to trek through the Brazilian rainforest, to the glaciers of Southern Patagonia, the mountains of Tibet and the Great Wall of China.
Impact
The results across the country were fantastic. Bikers did brilliantly – London to Brighton riders really had something to celebrate with the £3 million barrier broken for the first time. Heart Runners also outstripped their own personal best. Participants in the London Marathon beat their target by £100,000 and the Great North Run raised over £100,000 – a new record. Our younger supporters made great strides too, with both the Junior Golf Championship and Jump Rope for Heart attracting record sponsorship money. And our World Experience trekkers brought us a tremendous £500,000 from their international endeavours.
Next steps
We aim to attract even more Heart Runners in the coming year. We’ve added the Paris Marathon to our programme and aim to field a team in the gruelling Hell Runners event. We have also increased the number of our World Experiences from seven to nine, and 300 adventurers are already signed up for 2006/07.
We rely on your support to raise the crucial funds that can make a real difference to the thousands of people, like Christian’s family, who are affected by heart disease every year.
For more information about our annual events please go to bhf.org.uk/events or if you are interested in becoming a BHF Heart Runner please email heartrunners@bhf.org.uk