Bereaved sister honoured with British Heart Foundation award for tireless matchday fundraising
Ann Hartley, a retired caterer from Cheadle, Stockport, has won the British Heart Foundation’s Community Volunteer of the Year award for the North after raising more than £430,000 for the charity through weekly bucket collections.
Ann, 77, began collecting in 2008 on matchdays at pubs near Manchester’s football grounds after she lost five siblings all aged under 60 to heart conditions.
Her aim is to reach £500,000 before her 80th birthday.
Ann said: “It is a wonderful honour to have been given this award. I’ve spent the past 17 years going round the pubs near Old Trafford and the Etihad where I’ve always received a warm welcome from the landlords and the customers. People are so generous.
“I do this for my siblings as I can’t sit back and do nothing after so much loss and heartache. One of my surviving brothers is waiting for a heart transplant that would change his life. The research funded by the BHF has helped countless numbers of heart transplant patients, so this is my way of showing my gratitude for all that hope.”
Sarah Peet, Greater Manchester Fundraising Manager for the British Heart Foundationsaid: “Every weekend Ann displays brilliance in what she does for the BHF. She is incredibly passionate about supporting the funding of our life-saving research. We are so grateful for her seemingly boundless energy and her devotion to helping the BHF create a world in which everyone has a healthier heart for longer.”