Charity thanks store volunteers

Shop raises £41,000 for research

A leading charity has thanked volunteers for donating nearly £50,000 worth of their time to its flagship Perth outlet – helping pay for research by Tayside scientists.

The British Heart Foundation’s (BHF) Home Store at Inveralmond is celebrating a successful first year of trading.

The shop raises funds for life-saving studies into cardiovascular treatment in Dundee and relies on dedicated volunteers for all kinds of roles.

BHF Scotland director James Cant said: “Just 20 miles along the road at Ninewells Hospital, scientists funded by the BHF are working really hard to discover new and quicker diagnoses and treatments for heart disease and strokes. And this is all thanks to the public’s donations of their time and money.”

Since it opened on December 1 2015, Perth Home Store volunteers have donated 6,750 hours of their time, and the shop has raised £41,000 from the sale of furniture, soft furnishings, artwork and electrical goods.

The store is BHF Scotland’s flagship out-of-town retail operation.

It is one of 15 furniture and electrical outlets in Scotland and one of the charity’s portfolio of 75 Scottish shops, including a clothing store on Perth High Street.

All the money raised goes to fund nearly £63 million of pioneering heart research across the country.

In Dundee alone, £4.3m is being spent on 17 different projects, including £1m on the TIME (Treatment in the Morning versus Evening) study, which determines the most beneficial time to take blood pressure medication.

The five-year clinical trial is run by Dr Amy Rogers, a BHF clinical research fellow at Dundee University, and uses information submitted online by more than 21,000 patients to compare the effectiveness of blood pressure medication taken at different times of the day.

It is work that could have widereaching benefits to patients in Scotland and beyond.

Mr Cant added: “My heartfelt thanks goes out to all of our volunteers and customers in Perthshire and beyond, on behalf of BHF Scotland, the researchers who receive this funding to further their science and the 670,000 Scots living with cardiovascular disease.

“We really need more locals to get involved in this Fair City success story.

“We need volunteers to donate their time and we always need good quality stock as the furniture and electrical on our shop floor are updated every day.”