Banking group Santander has named the British Heart Foundation (BHF) as its charity of the year partner for 2015 and aims to raise £1m to help fight cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Amit Aggarwal, head of corporate partnerships at the BHF, said: “We are thrilled to have been chosen as Santander’s charity of the year. Throughout 2015, Santander staff will be raising funds to help the BHF realise its vision of a world where people don’t die prematurely or suffer from CVD."

BHF was selected by Santander staff; garnering 50 per cent of an employee vote, beating two other charities in the process. Santander was unable to tell Civil Society News which other charities were in the running for the partnership.  

During the 12-month partnership Santander will raise funds to support the charity’s freephone Heart Helpline. It will also look to fund two separate research projects into treatment for people living with CVD.

All of Santander’s 20,300 UK staff will be encouraged to support the BHF’s various fundraising campaigns such as 'Wear it bet it', which takes place on 6 February. The bank will also be developing additional, employee specific events and challenges.

Santander raised over £1.3m for the NSPCC, its 2014 charity of the year partner. The bank managed this through numerous fundraising activities, some of which included: climbing Mount Snowdon at night, cycling across Spain and tower running.

Steve Pateman, head of UK banking at Santander said: “We have a great track record in raising funds for our charity partners and I know together with our employees, customers and suppliers we will have a fantastic year with the BHF.”