Two Wilmslow residents received awards at the recent British Heart Foundation's West Region's Conference.
Brian Stanford-Smith of Wilmslow Park was named as Fundraising Volunteer of the Year and Sara Harris of Summerfields won the award for Engagement with the Community.
The presentations were made by BHF's Chief Executive, Simon Gillespie. In his message to the Heart Heroes of 2015, Simon said the awards recognised those who had made an exceptional contribution to BHF's fight for every heartbeat.
Brian's Stanford-Smith's award was one of eight 'Heart Hero' categories. He was described as a fundraising dynamo and commended for devoting his time to organising events such as garden parties, quiz evenings, coffee mornings, wine tastings and coach outings. It was noted that he and Ann, his wife, pull out all the stops to support the BHF's fight against heart disease.
On receiving the award Brian said "It is a great honour to have been selected as BHF Regional Volunteer of the year but I have to thank the many people who have encouraged and supported me in my efforts."
Sara Harris' Engagement award, one of five alliance awards, was for her work in promoting and teaching CPR and encouraging the wider availability of automated external defibrillators (AED) in public places. Sara is passionate about teaching CPR and engages with schools and communities in the area. She wants to see every local school has an AED and that everyone within that school has the confidence to use it and carry out CPR.
Sara Harris told wilmslow.co.uk "I was really pleased to win the award especially as it promotes further the work being done in communities to teach people CPR and use and access defibrillators. Everyone has to ability to learn these lifesaving skills and should take the time to learn CPR and make sure they know where their nearest defibrillator is."
Both Brian and Sara are part of the Wilmslow Branch of the British Heart Foundation and are keen that others join them to help with spreading the message and fundraising.
Anyone interested in the work or activities of the branch can ring the secretary Pam Critchley 01625 828529.
Photo: Sara Harris and Brian Stanford-Smith receive their awards from Simon Gillespie CEO of the British Heart Foundation.
