Heart Hero Awards
Our annual awards celebrate fundraisers, young advocates, lifesavers, healthcare professionals and supporters who go the extra mile for BHF.
Meet our 2025 Outstanding Contribution winners
Discover the incredible stories of Shirley West and Maureen Lemin, the winners of the Outstanding Contribution Award.
Shirley West and Maureen Lemin
Shirley and Maureen grew up together in Guildford and have been friends since they were teenagers – even living across the road from each other for 28 years.
Along with raising their children, and watching their grandchildren and great grandchildren grow, these incredible women have also balanced family and work alongside 4 decades of incredible fundraising for BHF.
Shirley and Maureen became involved with the Guildford fundraising group in 1985, after Maureen’s father developed heart problems. Over the following years they’ve helped raise many millions of pounds for BHF – for everything from community defibrillators across Guildford to funding vital heart-based medical equipment for the Royal Surrey County Hospital.
The ladies have been invited to Buckingham Palace because of their fundraising and volunteering, and in 2013 Shirley was awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) for services to charity. In 1997 Shirley also became a lifesaver when she saved the life of 17-year-old Clare Reigate after she had a cardiac arrest in the town.
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