Deloitte swept the board at the British Heart Foundation’s (BHF) second Heart of Business Awards on 17 June 2008, where the charity recognised the outstanding achievements of its corporate partners. Deloitte was awarded a prize for ‘Greatest achievement in building a successful long-term partnership’ for its joint partnership with the BHF and Leukaemia Research. In addition, Jo Westhead, Community Programme Manager at Deloitte, saw her efforts recognised with an award for ‘Outstanding achievement as corporate charity champion’.

Jo Westhead received the Award in the presence of approximately 60 senior representatives from the BHF’s past and present corporate partnerships as well as prospective supporters who attended the evening, sponsored by MBNA Bank of America. Journalist and broadcaster Andrew Neil presented Jo with the Award, after which guests were treated to the screening of the Euro 2008 match between France and Italy – as the event was hosted at the FA’s Soho Square headquarters.

Douglas Rouse, Head of Corporate Partnerships, said “The British Heart Foundation’s partnership with Deloitte has raised significant funds to help us continue our vital work – the original £250,000 two-year target was exceeded within the first twelve months of the partnership, with Deloitte extending the partnership into a third record-breaking year raising a total of £1.01million for the BHF. These vital funds have helped the BHF to fund an MRI scanner and catheter lab at Great Ormond Street Hospital to enable better research of heart disease in children and young adults; as well as funding 30 life-saving community defibrillators and six BHF Paediatric Heart Nurses for three whole years.”

Money has been raised through a range of activities including:

• Participation in fundraising events such as the Charity Race Night, X-Factor themed events, speed-networking, Partner Raffles, JP Morgan 5km Run, the British Heart Foundation London to Brighton Bike Ride, London Marathon and a many other in-house events run by each department’s charity champions.
• Donations through payroll giving: almost a quarter of Deloitte’s UK employees subscribe to the firm’s Give As You Earn scheme, which has earned Deloitte three prestigious Gold Awards from HM Treasury in recognition of the scheme’s success.

Jo Westhead at Deloitte, said, “I am delighted to collect this award on behalf of everyone at Deloitte. We are thrilled with the amount we have been able to raise over the last three years for a truly worthwhile cause. Supported by a network of Community Investment champions across the UK, our people have shown an extraordinary level of enthusiasm and generosity in order to surpass all previous fundraising and payroll giving records, making this our most successful national charity partnership to date.

“On a personal note it is amazing to receive an award for ‘Outstanding achievement as corporate charity champion’ in such distinguished company.”

Rouse continued, “We are incredibly proud of our corporate partnerships and the valuable commitment they make to the British Heart Foundation. But heart disease remains the UK’s biggest killer, so our work must continue. We need more partners and corporate ambassadors to help us reach new audiences and continue our life-saving work.”

Companies interested in finding out more about the benefits of working with the BHF should contact Douglas Rouse on 020 7487 9432 or partners@bhf.org.uk.

ENDS

For more information and images please call Kate Roberts in BHF press office on 020 7487 7172 or 07764 290381 (out of office hours) or email robertsk@bhf.org.uk.

Notes to editors
The British Heart Foundation (BHF) is the nation’s heart charity, dedicated to saving lives through pioneering research, patient care, campaigning for change and by providing vital information. But we urgently need help. We rely on donations of time and money to continue our life-saving work. Because together we can beat heart disease.

For more information on the BHF, visit bhf.org.uk

About Deloitte
In this press release references to Deloitte are references to Deloitte & Touche LLP which is among the country’s leading professional services firms, providing audit, tax, consulting and corporate finance services. Deloitte & Touche LLP is the United Kingdom member firm of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu (‘DTT’), a Swiss Verein whose member firms are separate and independent legal entities.  Neither DTT nor any of its member firms has any liability for each other’s omissions.  Services are provided by member firms or their subsidiaries and not by DTT.  Deloitte & Touche LLP is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.  The information contained in this press release is correct at the time of going to press.