Plymouth Brethren Christian Church breaks all records in the British Heart Foundation Bag-athon!

For the second year running, the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church (PBCC) have participated in the British Heart Foundation’s (BHF) ‘The Great British Bag-athon’; an initiative to collect unwanted clothing, books, toys and other saleable items from the public and organisations such as the Brethren. These items are then sold in the BHF’s many retail shops throughout the country.

Plymouth Brethren - Great British Bag-Athon

The PBCC rallied to the challenge and donated an incredible 12,998 number of bags during the month of September, to become Bag-athon Legends once again! If the total number of these bags were lined up in a row, this would cover a distance of over four miles. Mike Taylor, Retail Director of the British Heart Foundation, hailed the donation efforts as a “fantastic achievement” during a presentation ceremony held to congratulate a delegation from the PBCC community in October.

At the presentation, the PBCC were able to see the superb facilities at BHF HQ, and learn first-hand from the medical staff, about the life-changing research that is carried out as a result of the generous funding from the British Heart Foundation.

Plymouth Brethren - British Bagathon

PBCC delegation receives certificate from BHF

The British Heart Foundation’s mission is to ‘keep more hearts beating’, and the data presented during the visit to HQ certainly proves that they are doing this. Since BHF’s inception over 50 years ago, the number of people dying from heart-related illness has more than halved from 180,000 down to 80,000: an amazing achievement in which the BHF have played a huge part. BHF provide funding for research that prevents heart disease, survival training and defibrillators to help save lives following cardiac arrests, and support for people who have suffered with heart disease.

Ten years ago, the British Heart Foundation was only earning around £7m profit from their retail stores; today they are making £35m. This is thanks to fundraising initiatives such as The Great British Bag-athon, and with Mike Taylor stating that each bag could be worth up to £20, this means that the PBCC themselves have donated over £250k within a month, for the benefit of the British Heart Foundation.

Plymouth Brethren - British Bagathon

Mike Taylor, BHF Retail Director, Presenting to the PBCC

The PBCC are very glad to know that their donation will ‘keep more hearts beating’ and are pleased that they were able to help BHF beat its target in this year’s Bag-athon. Ian Hughes for the PBCC said: “We’ll be back next year!”

 Plymouth Brethren - British Bagathon

Bag-athon Thank You_ PBCC_30OCT13

42 thoughts on “Plymouth Brethren Christian Church breaks all records in the British Heart Foundation Bag-athon!”

  1. Lord Bagalot says:

    12,998 bags! just 2 short of 13,000!

  2. me says:

    hey i know that short guy! not the shortest 1 but the other 1….

  3. Zoo Keeper says:

    Great work!!! It’s also very interesting to watch the blogs during the bagathon as the tally soars higher!

    1. Granny says:

      Yep! We can’t wait for the next one! Bagging really brings out the bloggers like nothing else! (apart from when recordings don’t work!)

  4. JayTee says:

    WOW – truly amazing to see what can be done by small teams all pulling together! Keep up the good work PBCC & BHF

  5. B.H.Calcutta says:

    Glad to be able to contribute in some small way, quite apart from the fact that it may be me to next benefit from the BHF’s research – very grateful to those promoting their cause and doing whatever it takes to get all the donations to them!
    And thanks Granny & Co, what would we do without you!

  6. Anastacia says:

    If all the other charities hear about this, they will be queuing up for a chance to be the next chosen charity for the bag-a-TON!! On a more serious note, it is amazing to read about the latest advances in BHF’s research dept. They have been looking into copying the way a type of fish repairs its own heart in humans! Log on to their website for more…

  7. Dr Who says:

    Well done for bagging the record – you obviously put your heart into it with great success.

    1. James says:

      BTW we are going to get far more than this next time….aren’t we PBCC??

  8. T says:

    We did it and it shows we can always do better. Greatto think we are supporting a great charity who saves lives everyday. Thanks for the experience of proving it works to work as a team.

  9. Chaz says:

    Great stuff, you heroes. Get bagging for next year.
    Excellent work from the PBCC again!!!

  10. Jacko says:

    WOW…you never know what you can do until you try! Lets hit that target again and again! Good to know what a difference a small bit of sacrifice makes…

  11. Auntique says:

    You should do a stuff a truck challenge next year and see just how many times you can fill it! Just make sure lots of photos are taken and posted to the blog. I was waiting for those to be posted but they haven`t appeared – sigh…….. Great job to everyone involved and a great big thank you to the BHF for the excellent work they do! 🙂

  12. Reu says:

    Awesome effort. Everyone doing it without any motivation but giving.

  13. Bookie says:

    Excellent work by the PBCC Team – for such a good cause as well. Bring on the Bag-A-Thon 2014!!

  14. TASsie says:

    Great work Ian and Co!!! 🙂

  15. Keith says:

    Great stuff glad to see there are people out there still doing things for others

  16. Guess says:

    When you see the outstanding work done by the BHF, we were only glad to do our bit to help contribute. And what an awesome result from a great team. Well done all!!

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