2025 Free

Annual Report and Accounts 2024-25

The British Heart Foundation is the UK's biggest non-commercial funder of cardiovascular research, with over £460m of research in progress. In 2024-25, £108.4m in new research grants was awarded across 717 active grants at 47 institutions involving 1,220 researchers; 311,000 people were trained in CPR through RevivR; 106,000 defibrillators are now registered on The Circuit; and 37 million health content views were recorded. Total income was £181m. BHF-funded research has helped nearly halve cardiovascular deaths over 50 years. A new strategy was launched to harness AI, genomics and regenerative medicine.

Report snapshot
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About

Research grants (discovery, clinical, AI, genomics, regenerative medicine); CureHeart project (inherited heart conditions); RevivR CPR training platform; The Circuit national defibrillator network; Heart Helpline; BHF website health information; British Heart Foundation shops (retail); fundraising events; Heart Hero Awards; Reflections of Research competition; Women in Science programme; EDI workforce assessment

Key Metrics

Key Metric 1 £108.4m in new research grants awarded; 717 active grants; 1,220 researchers including PhD students across 47 institutions; over £460m of BHF-funded research in progress
Key Metric 2 311,000 people trained in CPR through RevivR (cumulative to 31 March 2025); 106,000 defibrillators registered on The Circuit; 20% increase in Heart Helpline contacts
Key Metric 3 37 million views of BHF health content; 33,314 pieces of news coverage; total income £181m; 72p in every £1 raised available for charitable purposes

Key Outcomes

  • SCOT-HEART trial 10-year follow-up: CCTA scans associated with 28% fewer non-fatal heart attacks — equating to approximately 6,000 heart attacks avoided; AI tool predicts type 2 diabetes risk up to 10 years in advance from routine ECG scans; OPTIMAS study: early blood-thinning as safe as delayed treatment for stroke patients — could benefit up to 20,000 patients per year
  • First BHF Professor of Cardiovascular Artificial Intelligence appointed (Prof Declan O'Regan, Imperial); MRC/BHF Centre of Research Excellence in Advanced Cardiac Therapies launched; AI-enabled intelligent t-shirt to detect lethal heart rhythms in development; FIND-HF machine learning tool predicts heart failure risk from GP records
  • New strategy launched: three goals — stop heart disease before it starts, save more lives, support everyone with heart disease; retail net profit fell to £3.6m (from £18.8m in 2024) reflecting cost pressures; legacy income rose to £108.4m; fundraising income £58.2m; £3m joint fund for cardiovascular research in Wales with Health and Care Research Wales

Geography

UK-Wide

Impact Snapshot
Key Metric 1
Total income £18,180,000 and total expenditure £18,560,000 (year ended 31 December 2024, charity no. 1084958 England/Wales and SC039654 Scotland); in 2024 spent £3.8m on...
Key Metric 2
700+ members supported through in-person visits and support calls in 2025; 697 support grants allocated in 2025 for essential items including specialist clothing, cooling...
Key Metric 3
Largest global investment in EB research to date: multi-million-pound drug repurposing trial provisionally agreed with LifeArc partner at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation...
£34,000 raised in 2025 winter appeal supporting families like Darcie's with specialist items, emotional support and research; 697 support grants delivered in 2025; first Members Connect event in Northern Ireland; EB Priorities Setting Partnership study completed providing global research roadmap
Impact Snapshot
Key Metric 1
22,507 households helped through RBL casework and specialist support services across 66 countries
Key Metric 2
22,600 grants given to those in need, totalling £11.8 million
Key Metric 3
733 beneficiaries represented at tribunals, resulting in £24.5 million in War Pensions awards
1,548 new families living with dementia supported by RBL Admiral Nurses service
Impact Snapshot
Key Metric 1
3,600 blind veterans received support across the UK; 447 new blind veterans started receiving support in 2024/25
Key Metric 2
1,598 referrals to rehabilitation services completed; 313 veterans received assistive technology training
Key Metric 3
997 volunteers donated 26,824 hours of support; befriending service awarded Quality in Befriending Excellence — one of only 11 organisations in the UK to...
1,831 National Creative Wellbeing Project packs issued to help veterans reconnect with creativity and independence
Impact Snapshot
Key Metric 1
349,000+ people completed the Know Your Risk tool to assess their risk of type 2 diabetes in 2024
Key Metric 2
£4 million invested in 17 new research projects; total active grants portfolio worth over £45 million
Key Metric 3
32% of people completing NHS England's Path to Remission programme — which Diabetes UK campaigned for — put their type 2 diabetes into remission
Type 1 Diabetes Grand Challenge invested over £23 million in 19 projects across 161 experts from 47 institutions in 8 countries since 2022