Employees of Toolstation, a UK supplier of tools, accessories, and building supplies, have raised more than £3,400 for the British Heart Foundation (BHF) through a fundraising challenge inspired by the BBC programme Race Across the World.
Held on 11 June, the event saw a team from Toolstation’s head office compete against the company’s senior leadership team in a race across London using public transport.
Teams earned points by visiting Toolstation branches, completing challenges, visiting British Heart Foundation shops, serving customers, and encouraging donations through the ‘Pennies’ micro-donation scheme.
The senior leadership team finished with the highest score, and the fundraiser exceeded its £2,000 target, raising a total of £3,440 for the charity.
Toolstation says the donation could help fund almost two weeks of full-time research by an early-career scientist or provide hundreds of specialised DNA extraction kits used to identify genes linked to an increased risk of heart attacks.
Partnership focuses on heart health awareness
The fundraiser follows Toolstation’s decision to partner with the British Heart Foundation over the coming year to promote heart health amongst colleagues and tradespeople.
As part of the partnership, the organisations aim to raise awareness of cardiovascular disease and its risk factors, while encouraging more people to learn CPR.
Toolstation has also committed to training all 5,000 of its colleagues using the British Heart Foundation’s free online CPR training tool, RevivR.
Chris Other, Customer Director at Toolstation, says, “While we didn’t have to travel across the world, the busy streets of London were still difficult to navigate!
“It was a fantastic day which raised a huge amount of money and provided a brilliant team bonding experience.
“By partnering with [the] British Heart Foundation, we are taking direct action to help support both our colleagues and customers.
“In addition to our commitment to CPR training, our teams will continue to oversee fundraising events such as these to help protect the hearts of the tradespeople who do so much for our communities.”
Hayley Gunn-Bruce, Head of Corporate Partnerships at the British Heart Foundation, adds, “A huge thank you to everyone at Toolstation who took part in this fantastic fundraiser.
“It was a brilliant day to be involved in, and we’re incredibly grateful to everyone who helped raise £3,440 to fund our lifesaving research.
“Together, we’re helping to protect the hearts of the nation, and we look forward to seeing the lasting impact we can make together over the years ahead.”
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