Our Midlands Corporate Supporters
Your business can make a big difference to the lives of people with heart disease in the Midlands.
We’d love you to join us in our fight against coronary heart disease, the UK’s single biggest killer.
Sadly, many of us know someone who has been affected by heart disease, be it a loved one, family friend or work colleague. However, the continued research projects and community grants Heart Research UK Midlands has worked on over the past 53 years have given new hope and allowed people to live longer, healthier and happier lives.
Our work has seen companies benefit from positive publicity, provided some fantastic team building opportunities and raised vital funds for us to continue our work.
With the support of fellow Midlands organisations, we can do even more. To get involved or find out more about our projects, please contact midlands@heartresearch.org.uk
DS Smith
2013
DS Smith is an international packaging company headquartered in London with 30 sites around the UK, comprising of North, South and Industrial.
The partnership began when a staff member discovered he had a serious heart condition after participating in a wellbeing initiative run by the company. His condition required lifesaving surgery which came as a huge shock to him as a relatively young person with a good diet and lifestyle.
The experience encouraged him to raise both awareness and funds for heart disease, and he was put in touch with us following a recommendation from his surgeon at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, who knew about our research and community projects in the Midlands and the UK.
Funds raised by DS Smith have helped many projects around the UK but in particular, they have been used for our Helping Little Hearts Near You campaign.
Further funding has also, more recently, been given to our Heart of Scotland Appeal. There’s lots more in the pipeline too, and at the moment, the company is taking part in our Treasure Your Heart and old foreign currency schemes which allow us to turn unwanted items like these into much-needed donations.
We have undertaken a huge number of fundraising activities with DS Smith, raising an impressive amount of funds for our heart research projects. From the introduction of our Healthy Heart Mark scheme participated in by the company’s UK workforce, to sourcing raffle prizes and offering support with in-house events, it’s been a particular pleasure to help run and support the company’s Healthy Heart Football Tournament since 2015!
“It’s been very rewarding working with HRUK Midlands over the years. We’ve organised some great events that have not only raised funds for the vital work the charity does, but we’ve had lots of fun and team bonding in the process! We’re looking forward to lots more!”
Erwin Hymer Centre Travelworld
2020
Erwin Hymer Centre Travelworld is a luxury motorhome dealership based in Stafford.
We supported their event by sourcing prizes raffle and tombola prizes, including signed Sally Bee recipe books and a holiday to Cyprus, and Travelworld donated luxury cool boxes and a raft of camping goodies. As an ambassador for HRUK, Sally Bee was happy to lend her support to the event which attracted an audience from across the Midlands. This also helped generate interest thanks to the local media coverage we managed to secure.
Sally Bee says: “It was a fantastic day and a wonderful to meet such an enthusiastic audience and to support HRUK Midlands again.”
We supported the event by offering prizes raffle and tombola prizes, including signed Sally Bee recipe books, a holiday to Cyprus, and Travelworld donated luxury cool boxes and a raft of camping goodies. As an ambassador for HRUK, Sally Bee was happy to lend her support to the event which attracted an audience from across the Midlands. This also helped generate interest thanks to the local media coverage we managed to secure.
Sally Bee says: “It was a fantastic day and a wonderful to meet such an enthusiastic audience and to support HRUK Midlands again.”
Ross Edwards says: “We feel that Heart Research UK’s cause is something that touches all of us and we have been delighted to support them.”
adi Group
2013
Founded in 1990 with a head office in Birmingham,
adi Group are an engineering company that currently comprises 17 limited companies offering value engineering solutions through over 20 individually led, specialist service divisions in the UK and Ireland.
Initially, we were chosen for a 1 year partnership and in 2020 we are incredibly proud that we are still their preferred charity, voted for by employees and senior directors of the company. Our partnership has grown stronger over the last 5 years encouraging more staff members to take part in fundraising events. Main events have included the HRUK Healthy Heart Cup Football Tournament, which is now in its 6th year, employees signing up for local community events, charity golf days as well as Easyfundraising on-line. adi Automotive Director, Richie Webb, was instrumental in getting staff members to take part in the 2019 Birmingham Velo as well as organising a 3 Peaks challenge, followed by a Dragon Boat Race on the Stratford upon Avon river, which to-date is the most successful event during our partnership and raised £26.000.
adi Group MD, Alan Lusty is always hugely supportive and regularly match funds amounts raised by his staff, and he is not without his own fundraising ideas. At the 2019 Awards Dinner and inspired by its jungle theme, he raised £3.000 by encouraging attendees to eat an unusual and tropical starter and match funded the amount to £6.000 in 15 minutes. To date, adi Group have raised over £80.000 for Heart Research UK Midlands.
The key to our successful partnership has always been our keen involvement with events and our hands-on approach. They always have our full help and support when organising their own events and working together we have raised funds for projects at Birmingham Children’s Hospital Cardiac Unit, including one that gave peace of mind and confidence to parents taking their babies home after complex Heart Surgery, as well as a ‘Heart in a Box’ Organ Care System at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham. This revolutionary and ground-breaking piece of equipment, allows a donor heart to stay alive and beating outside of the human body and has the potential to increase the number of heart transplants carried out by up to 50%, and is now in use at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham.
adi Group MD, Alan Lusty says “at adi, we are all hugely aware of the role that we can play in helping improve the lives of people across the Midlands”
Elonex
2015
Elonex have been supporting the charity with free advertising space on their digital screens around Birmingham and on the A38 Aston Express Way in and out of Birmingham. The A38 screen during the festive season can give around 1 million visitors a week the opportunity to see our advert. This sort of advertising costs tens of thousands of pounds.
We were delighted to be chosen as one of their charities of the year in 2020 with the partnership including over £150.000 of free advertising primarily for use on screens in the Midlands shopping malls and Motorways, M1 M5 M6 and the A38 Aston Express Way. The partnership will also present opportunities to meet with many of their clients along with invitations to their social networking events. Adam Stockton, Managing Director said that there is also the opportunity to discuss the use of digital screens outside of the region once the Midlands area has been established.
Funds raised through our partnership with Elonex will go towards a new Covid-19 Heart Research UK project.
Adam Stockdon, Managing Director Elonex Digital Media says: ‘We have decided that now is the time to fully engage with Heart Research UK in the Midlands and hope that the benefits of being one of our partners will help to strengthen our objectives. We look forward to working with you and share your passion.’
Richard Usmar
2006
Mr Richard Usmar, Quilter Private Client Advisers, Chairman-Birmingham.
Richard Usmar has been supporting the work of HRUK for over 14 years. In this time he has raised over £150.000, through personal donations and by organising VIP lunches with his close associates. He has also introduced many of his private clients to the charity who are now aware of the work that we do and lend their support to HRUK.
Funds raised have helped projects at the QE Hospital Birmingham (Heart in a Box) and Birmingham Children’s Hospital (baby monitoring system).
We are delighted and proud to be associated with Richard and Quilter Private Client Advisers, we always want to engage with staff members and support their events at all times.
‘I support HRUK Midlands because their work helps us live longer, healthier, happier, lives.’
Family Life Magazine
2016
Local magazine with a distribution of 25,000 around Central England
We receive a donation towards research projects here in the Midlands for content supplied for the magazine.
We supply them with two / three articles a year as well as Healthy Tips which feature in every edition
