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- Heart Week
Heart Week
Introduction
In June 2004, the British Heart Foundation ran a successful charity fundraising week under the banner of the Big Red Fightback, urging people to raise £1 million to fight heart disease. Heart Week is the BHF's annual flagship campaign to raise awareness and funds in the war against heart disease.
Action
We challenged the British public to kick start their own route to a healthier lifestyle by using the stairs rather than an escalator, getting off the bus a stop earlier, and encouraging people to think about their diet.
The advertising campaign was designed to capture people's attention, at a time when they could make a healthy lifestyle choice. The advertisements featured three different messages: 'Stairs - They Are Your Friends'; 'Get off the Bus One Stop Early' and 'Fear the Pie'. They appeared in busy public places, on public transport, in national and regional newspapers and on websites.
Corporate partners Shredded Wheat and Tetley promoted the campaign by producing over 7.5 million special Big Red Fightback packs. During June, Shredded Wheat also ran a national TV advertisement, to increase awareness of healthy hearts and to raise vital funds to help in the fight against heart disease.
We asked people to get sponsored by friends, family and colleagues to climb as many steps as they could. With just 1p a step, the BHF set out to raise £1 million through the Big Red Fightback - a mountain of money to save lives.
BHF Shops staff and volunteers raised over £225,000 by offering the BHF pin-on heart ribbons for sale in all of our charity shops.
Celebrities who supported Heart Week included Martin Kemp, Trevor McDonald, Jono Coleman, and footballer Mario Melchiot.
Impact
The Big Red Fightback campaign was seen by 20 million adults. Awareness of heart disease increased and 58% of people who recognised the advertisement remembered that being active reduces the risk of heart disease.
Fundraising and Shops volunteers worked together to organise hundreds of street collections, urging the public to step up and make a suggested £1 donation for a heart ribbon. The ribbons were available from 1,000 GP surgeries, 460 BHF Shops, 60 Cannons gyms, 840 Moss Pharmacies and hundreds more sites which BHF shops and regional staff worked so hard to secure.
The BHF website recorded its highest level of hits, at 330,000, during the campaign month and extensive media coverage was achieved, including a headline spot on BBC News at 10.
Next steps
We hope that Help a Heart Week in June 2005 will prove an even greater success.