We’re as tired as you are of hearing it, but 2020 really has been a year unlike any other. The Covid-19 pandemic has meant that we, like the rest of the sector, have had to re-evaluate our priorities to make sure that the people who rely on us continue to receive the care, treatment and support that they need.

While it may feel like this year has been doom and gloom, the challenges that have been presented this year have also provided us with the chance to innovate and adapt. As the year draws to an end, we take a moment to reflect on some of the reasons to feel proud of what we have achieved in 2020.

Supporting people during this health crisis 

To help support and provide information to people with heart and circulatory conditions during this health crisis, we set up our Covid-19 Hub. The platform provides the latest updates on the pandemic, resources and guidance for healthcare professionals, and information for people with heart and circulatory conditions and the public.  

Since going live in March until the beginning of December, the hub has supported over two million users to navigate the pandemic. 

Other resources, such as information and support for people who have been referred to cardiac rehabilitation, have moved online.  

In addition, during the spring and summer our Heart Helpline moved to a seven-day operation, ensuring people could receive support and guidance every day of the week.  

Continuing our life saving research 

Despite the obstacles, we still saw pioneering research breakthroughs this year. For example, Dr Gavin Richardson and his team at Newcastle University discovered that senescent cells, also known as zombie cells, build up in the heart and prevent recovery after a heart attack. Zombie cells get their name because they’re not dead, but they don’t work as they should and can stop neighbouring cells working properly. 

In addition to their regular research into heart and circulatory conditions, our researchers have played a pivotal role in the fight against Covid-19. To help support the national research effort, researchers whose posts were directly funded by the BHF were able to devote their time to Covid-19 research until they were able to return to their normal research activity.  

BHF Professor Sir Rory Collins at the University of Oxford, for example, has been enhancing data from the UK Biobank to help researchers understand why the severity of Covid-19 symptoms can vary significantly between individuals.  

Working with the National Institute of Health Research and the British Cardiovascular Society, we also launched a framework to identify and support National Flagship Covid-19 Projects that aims to rapidly improve the treatment and care of people with Covid-19 and heart and circulatory conditions.  

New ways to donate 

Our freepost donation service was launched in June and, since then, we have seen over 11,900 items donated to our charity shops through the service. This has equated to approximately £435,000 worth of stock.  

Since our eBay stores resumed service in the same month, there have been £2.6 million in sales and almost 13 million visitors to our eBay pages. We also reached our one millionth eBay sale this year!  

In September, our charity shops partnered with fashion marketplace app, Depop, to reach a new audience of sustainable fashion lovers, where we quickly became a top seller.  

Everyone in England became organ donors  

In May this year, everyone in England became organ donors thanks to Max and Keira’s Law being enacted. The change in law means that everyone in England over the age of 18 is considered an organ donor, unless they decide to opt out.  

The new opt out system for organ donation in Scotland will come into force on 26 March 2021. 

Meanwhile, in Northern Ireland, the Health Minister announced a consultation on the move to a soft opt-out organ donation system. This move will mean that soon the whole of the UK will operate a soft opt-out system.  

Calling for change in Scotland 

We joined forces with nine other leading Scottish health charities to call for action to tackle non-communicable diseases in Scotland.  

Official estimates show that each year, around 14,000 deaths in Scotland could be prevented through public health interventions. As a collective, the campaign set out a series of priorities to tackle three of the biggest risk factors that affect people today – tobacco use, alcohol consumption and unhealthy diets – to improve the health of everyone in Scotland.  

The Heart of Steel reached a massive milestone  

The enthusiasm for our iconic Heart of Steel keeps on growing, and this year over 20,000 names have been added to the sculpture.  

The Heart of Steel is a monument currently residing in Meadowhall Shopping Centre in Sheffield and has space for 150,000 names. For £20, people can honour their loved ones by having their names engraved onto the giant heart made entirely from Yorkshire Steel.  

Teaching a next generation of life savers 

Every year in the UK, there are more than 30,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests and the chances of survival are just one in ten. Every minute that passes without CPR or defibrillation reduces the chances of survival by up to 10%.  

But now, following tireless campaigning from us and partners, every child in secondary school in England will learn CPR as it became part of the school curriculum this year. 

In Wales, our BHF Cymru campaign successfully secured CPR in the school curriculum for Welsh schools, which will come into effect in 2022.  

We also announced at the start of the year that we are helping to train drivers who deliver parcels to Amazon customers across the UK in CPR, so that they can respond to emergencies when on the road.  

Launching our own podcast  

This year we expanded our portfolio by launching our first podcast – The Ticker Tapes.  

The podcast is hosted by Guardian and Stylist columnist Lucy Mangan and features three of our inspiring case studies spotlighting gender inequality for women with heart disease. Told over three episodes, the women candidly discuss the impacts of their heart attacks, and cover everything from sex, life and self-esteem. 

Inspiring fundraisers 

While we had to cancel most of our fundraising events this year, it didn’t stop our inspiring fundraisers to find new ways to raise funds for us.  

For example, 104-year-old Joan Willet raised over £60,000 by walking up and down the hill outside of her care home. She inspired the nation so much that her image was projected onto Piccadilly Circus.  

Other innovative fundraisers included 12-year-old Emily Bain, who raised £2,000 for us by swimming 21 miles – the equivalent of the English Channel – in her family’s swimming pool in memory of her grandfather.

Thank you 

Finally, a huge thank you to all of our committed supporters and volunteers – because of you we have been able to carry on improving the lives of people with heart and circulatory diseases during this most challenging of years. We need your support now more than ever. 

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