Couple put their hearts into BHF for 35 years
A HARTINGTON couple are celebrating 35 years of fundraising for the British Heart Foundation.
John and June Dean have helped raise more than £250,000 for the life-saving charity, after being inspired to support it after John had a quadruple heart bypass in 1986.
The couple, who were originally from St Albans and have been married for 60 years, got involved with group events at their local BHF fundraising group and, within 12 months, John found himself in charge of the group’s sponsored swim event.
The event proved to be a huge success with local schools and businesses, raising more than £20,000.
In 2004, the couple relocated to Hartington to be closer to their only daughter and their three grandchildren.
Keen to continue with their fundraising, they joined the
BHF’S Ashbourne fundraising group.
John, a retired senior shipping and transport manager, is now in his 80s but he continues to be an active member of the local community.
He is a retired school governor and an avid church bell ringer.
He said: “I loved the sponsored swim event. It was such a family-friendly event that encouraged people of all ages to be active and look after their heart health.
“I was sad to leave it behind, so I proposed that we do our own sponsored swim in Ashbourne.
“The event was such a success that it continued for over 10 years, raising almost £65,000 in total.”
The money raised by June and John has helped the BHF fund its life-saving research into heart and circulatory diseases, such as coronary heart disease, stroke and vascular dementia, along with their risk factors like high blood pressure and diabetes.
In Derbyshire alone, around 133,000 people are living with heart and circulatory conditions – and tragically, every three hours, someone in the county dies from one of these conditions.
Paula Scaife, Derbyshire’s fundraising manager for the BHF, presented the couple with their BHF long services badges and a commemorative vase to mark the occasion. She said: “We would like to thank John and June for the massive contribution they have made to our vital work over the past 35 years.
“They continue to play an active role in the fundraising group, and it’s been an honour to be able to celebrate such a phenomenal milestone with them.
“Sadly, despite decades of progress, heart and circulatory diseases still kill more than one in four people in Derbyshire, so we urgently need to fund more pioneering research to find cures, preventions and improved treatments.
“We can only do this thanks to the generous support of people like John and June.”
Anyone interested in fundraising for the BHF can contact Paula Scaife, BHF’S fundraising manager, by calling emailing scaifep@bhf.org.uk or calling 07384 818571.
We can only do this thanks to the generous support of people like John and June.
Paula Scaife BHF