MP's praise for volunteers as British Heart Foundation marks 60 years
Royal Sutton Coldfield’s MP Andrew visited The Royal Town’s British Heart Foundation (BHF) shop at the Red Rose Centre to mark the 60th anniversary of the charity.
During his visit, he met with volunteers and Jo Dunning, regional manager.
The charity has helped fund important research into heart conditions.
In the 1980s BHF funded research helped prove the benefits of statins, which now save thousands of lives every year in the UK.
More recently, research funded by the BHF has led to CE mark accreditation of AI technology that can help to identify people at high risk of a fatal heart attack.
The Covid-19 pandemic and last 18 months have been a difficult for the charity, creating significant disruption in donations and shop sales, which has in turn led their research budget falling.
National revenue has fallen by 67 per cent and this will have an impact on their work looking at inherited heart diseases, improved treatments for strokes and new ways to stop vascular dementia.
Following his visit, Sutton’s MP said: “It was good to have the opportunity to visit our local British Heart Foundation charity shop and thank the brilliant volunteers that help run the shop.
“The pandemic has created difficulties, but the team has been working incredibly hard to keep things going.
“The charity is currently looking for donations and is also offering a number of voluntary opportunities for Suttonians including positions serving customers and opportunities in the stock room.
“These roles can be really useful for those looking to build up experience or those with a few hours spare looking for voluntary opportunities.”
For more information on how you can support the British Heart Foundation, visit bhf.org.uk/how-you-can-help/donate
The website also provides advice on how members of the public can help with fundraising to support the charity.
