# Santander raises £1.2 million for British Heart Foundation

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2016/01/08/santander-raises-1-2m-for-british-heart-foundation/
- Published: 2016-01-08T11:23:03+00:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**Santander’s year-long partnership with the British Heart Foundation has exceeded
its target of £1 million for the charity.**

The British Heart Foundation (BHF) was chosen by Santander staff as its charity 
of the year in January 2015. Since then, staff, customers and suppliers have joined
in the fundraising. This included taking part in some of BHF’s fundraising campaigns
such as ‘Wear It. Beat it.’ in February and the autumn stock donation campaign ‘
Bag it. Beat it.’ for the BHF’s 750+ shops.

## Santander events

![Santander staff raise funds for British Heart Foundation](https://www.fundraising.
co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/santander-staff-fundraise-for-british-heart-foundation.
jpg)

Santander staff raise funds for British Heart Foundation

 

## Advertisement

Santander also ran a number of its own events and campaigns. These included:

• a London to Cambridge cycle challenge for Santander’s Executive team which raised
£23,614

• a 50 million step challenge which saw over 1300 staff walk 111 million steps in
10 days raising £149,410

• a relay challenge involving six riders cycling from Glasgow to London over five
days visiting Santander regional offices en route raised £49,928

• an international challenge in which 36 Santander staff travelled to India to build
a school for disabled children in Pondicherry and raised £172,370.

The money raised will fund the BHF’s Freephone Heart Helpline which provides emotional
and practical support to heart patients and their families for the next two years
and support two research projects for three years which could lead to better treatments
for those living with CVD.

## Benefits for Santander

BHF staff also train Santander staff in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) as part
of the BHF’s ambition to create a Nation of Lifesavers.

This was extended to the bank’s 10 regional offices and all 850 branches to provide
its 20,000 staff with access to the charity’s lifesaving training. As a result of
the campaign, the bank also installed AEDs into its major offices to support further
the chances of survival in the case of a cardiac arrest.

The BHF also supported Santander staff through Healthy Hearts activity, providing
useful information and advice about looking after your heart at Santander events
across the UK. Branches were provided with a selection of the BHF’s health resources
to share with customers.

Nathan Bostock, CEO Santander, said:

> “We have a great track record of fundraising thanks to the boundless enthusiasm
> and energy of our employees and the generosity of our customers and suppliers 
> who have all helped to make this such a fantastic year with the BHF.”

## Past charity of the year partnerships

In 2012 Santander staff and customers [raised £1 million for Marie Curie Cancer Care](https://www.fundraising.co.uk/2013/03/05/santander-raises-1-million-marie-curie-cancer-care/),
and in 2014 [raised £1.3 million for NSPCC](https://www.fundraising.co.uk/2015/01/08/santander-raises-1-3m-nspcc/).

 

_Main image: [Santander branch](https://www.flickr.com/photos/126066997@N07/14718559118),
Manchester by moneybright.co.uk on Flickr.com_

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