Precious time
- Find out how to become a BHF volunteer in shops or in the community!
Call Community Fundraising on 020 7487 9461
Find your local BHF shop by calling 0870 120 4141
Precious time
Volunteers like Pat are the BHF’s lifeblood. Their energy and loyalty in running our shops and giving time in their local area to help raise funds is unrivalled.
Action
2005 was the UK’s Year of the Volunteer and the BHF was delighted when Barbara Forrai was given a Year of the Volunteer Award for Commitment, recognising the time she gives to our Croydon branch.
It was a great year for donating time to the charity – volunteer numbers increased by 7%, to over 10,000 in our 500 shops and we now have more than 4,000 community fundraisers.
Paula Thompson is typical of over 250 new key community fundraisers who joined our team. Paula encourages schools to raise money through activities like Jump Rope for Heart. She says: “The skipping workshops are fun and it’s great to see the children fundraising. Educating our children in heart health is very important and I take that very seriously.”
Our volunteers pulled out all the stops for our major fundraising campaigns including February’s Valentine Appeal, and Help a Heart Week in June. They joined organised collections, helped at sponsored events and raised funds at work or in their local community.
Impact
The BHF’s volunteers really have made a major contribution this year. Without their support the BHF could not continue its vital work in life-saving heart research, care and education. Thanks to them, BHF shops continue to be among the best in the high street and our community fundraising has reached new heights.
Next steps
Our volunteers report feeling a real sense of achievement and should be proud of what they have accomplished this year. The BHF greatly values their contribution and will keep up the drive for new supporters to join those like Pat and Paula who help us raise money for our vital work.
In 2006/07 we will be looking at new ways to contact potential volunteers, including developing our own website and working with specialist volunteer agency, TimeBank, who helped us recruit 300 ‘Valenteers’ for the Valentine Appeal in February.
Our volunteers come from all walks of life and whatever your skills, interests or experience there’s something you can do to help, in the community, in our shops, or offices. You’ll get all the training and support you need and if you have a few days or even hours to spare we’d love you to join us.