Customers help the British Heart Foundation to Bag It. Beat It.

Back row left to right - Christina Yates, Deborah Butler, Anneka Lord, Surinder Biant, Mayor of Rochdale; Cecile Biant, Mayoress of Rochdale; Lorenzo O’Reilly, Centre Manager of Rochdale Exchange; Mohammed Nsubuga Front row left to right - Tayybah Saleem, Sian Patterson, Iqra Shamim, Jessica Jackson, Ellie Kerr, Matthew Hardiker

The Bag It. Beat It. stock appeal for The British Heart Foundation (BHF) was launched at Rochdale Exchange Shopping Centre on Saturday (12 September) when the Mayor Rochdale, Councillor Surinder Biant, donated the first bag of items.

The items now go on to be sold in BHF shops and help fund life saving research, support those living with a heart disease and raise awareness of the effects that a sudden devastating diagnoses can have on a family.

Bags of items can be donated to the drop point in the Rochdale Exchange Shopping Centre until Saturday 19 September. After that date bags of good quality clothes, shoes, toys, books, CDs, DVDs and bric-a-brac, can be taken to the nearest BHF shop.

Last year the BHF raised over £130 million from voluntary income alone, £115.5 million of which supported research. This enabled them to fund scientists at more than 40 different locations in the UK. BHF also supports families affected by a sudden devastating diagnosis and creates communities who are able to share their advice and experiences with those who have been through similar experiences.

Lorenzo O’Reilly, Centre Manager of Rochdale Exchange, commented: “Thank you to the Mayor Rochdale, Councillor Surinder Biant, for helping us to launch our campaign. BHF is such an important charity which helps thousands of people around the UK every year who suffer from heart disease, so I want to encourage our shoppers to continue to donate their unwanted quality items and take them to our centre drop point or local BHF store.”