View our Annual Impact Report

View our annual impact report

Mike Tomlinson

As we reflect on the past financial year, we are proud of the incredible support demonstrated by our Heart Foundation community. 

This report highlights some of the key developments and programmes we have delivered, thanks to our supporters, and includes some inspiring stories of individuals whose lives have been transformed through our work. 

A tough economic environment resulted in considerable financial pressures on New Zealand households, and we continued to face an overburdened health system. Yet despite these challenges, support from generous New Zealanders has allowed us to advance the heart health cause and support those affected by heart disease.

The challenging environment required an agile and innovative approach, ensuring that we amplified the urgency of our charitable purpose – to stop people dying prematurely of heart disease and to support those with heart disease to live longer, healthier lives.

Over the past financial year, we stepped up our call to Government for a heart health action plan to improve diagnosis, management and access to medications for those living with heart disease. A refreshed White Paper was well received and formed the basis of discussions with the new Government in November 2023.

Further clout was added to our campaign by an article in the New Zealand Medical Journal, jointly written by Associate Professor Gerry Devlin, Associate Professor Sir Collin Tukuitonga, Dr Corina Grey, Professor Mark Richards, Dr Anna Rolleston, Professor Rob Doughty, Associate Professor Malcolm Legget and Professor Sir Jim Mann.

Clive Nelson

We hosted a pre-election debate – Healthy hearts, healthy nation – which helped to highlight the pressing issues facing our sector to key politicians and helped us to keep heart health on the Government’s agenda. 

We continued to invest funds into heart research with $4.6 million being invested into heart research and training for cardiologists. Supporting the Heart Foundation Chair of the Heart Health Research Trust, Professor Rob Doughty, and the Chair in Cardiovascular Studies Trust at the Christchurch Heart Institute, Professor Mark Richards, remains a priority as we work together to understand how to prevent and treat heart disease.

We remained committed to the prevention of heart disease in the next generation through the promotion of healthy habits. An independent report on our Tohu Manawa Ora | Healthy Heart Award programme revealed a significant social return on investment – for every dollar invested in the programme there is a social return of $4.50.

A sharpened emphasis on prevention in the adult population included a heart disease awareness campaign for those most at risk, alongside blood pressure checks and activities for New Zealanders across the country.

The year saw a strong focus on governance and a revised constitution was adopted at our 2023 Annual General Meeting. As a consequence of these changes both the Chief Executive and Medical Director stood down from the board and an extensive search was held to appoint two members to take their places, with their appointments effective from September 2024.

We are pleased to welcome Associate Professor Dr Matire Harwood and Dr Raewyn Fisher who bring significant experience in leadership and medical expertise within the broader health sector and the community, and we are very fortunate to have them join the board.

We are excited to move into a new strategic planning cycle this year, charting the course over the next three years and building on the good work we have delivered to date. 

To donors and partners, to participants in events and volunteers, supporters of our Heart Foundation Lottery and other fundraising activities, our performance this year is only possible due to your generous support. 

Your funds are vital to our charity so that we can invest in the heart health of New Zealanders. We look forward to working together with you in future because we know that hearts are stronger, together.

Chairman Mike Tomlinson and Chief Executive Clive Nelson

Gerry Devlin

From trialling ultra-portable defibrillators to using AI to detect heart conditions, in 2023 we invested millions of dollars into life-saving heart research.

I am excited by the research projects underway across the bench-to-bedside spectrum. 

Rapid growth in new techniques, technology and treatments are dramatically changing how we diagnose and manage heart disease. Over the past 55 years, the successful research projects and overseas training fellowships funded by the Heart Foundation have helped transform our understanding of heart disease and accelerated progress in developing new treatments.

We are excited to support these vital advances and enable our researchers and health professionals to continue making progress on improving the heart health of all New Zealanders.

In addition to our investment in research in New Zealand, we are a key member of the Global Cardiovascular Research Funders Forum (GCRFF), a collaboration between 12 major international funders of cardiovascular clinical research. Together, we are committed to accelerating progress in preventing, diagnosing and treating heart disease. I am thrilled that in the coming years we will see a focus on women’s cardiovascular health, an area that has been underfunded and underrepresented in New Zealand and globally.

New and better treatments are resulting in longer and healthier lives, and it is vital that we continue to fund heart research now and in the future.
So, to our generous supporters, thank you for enabling us to invest in the next generation of cardiologists and researchers.
With your help, we are able to make a significant impact on the heart health of New Zealanders and help to create healthier futures for everyone.

Heart Foundation Medical Director Associate Professor Gerry Devlin
 

Our impact this year

Here are a few of this year’s highlights, made possible thanks to the support of our donors and partners.

$4.6m
invested in life-saving heart research and training
760
tonnes of sugar removed from targeted food products
49,000
My Heart Check assessments completed
50,000+
pre-schoolers reached through our education programmes

Reducing sugar levels

 

For the last 15 years the Heart Foundation has worked with New Zealand food companies to support the reduction of sugar and salt levels, especially in low-cost items. Last year alone, we removed approximately 50 truckloads (760 tonnes) of sugar from targeted New Zealand food products.

Nurturing NZ’s youngest hearts
 

A 2024 independent evaluation of the Heart Foundation’s early learning service programme found that “every dollar invested in the programme delivers $4.50 of measurable good to New Zealand”. In 2024, supported by Health NZ | Te Whatu Ora, we delivered the programme to more than 50,000 pre-schoolers.
 

Reducing blood pressure

 

One in five New Zealanders live with high blood pressure, a key risk factor for heart attack and stroke. Unfortunately, many don’t know they have it, or don’t have it under control. Alongside nationwide blood pressure checks, we launched new resources to help people better manage the condition. 

Celebrating 30 years of the Heart Foundation Lottery
 

In 2023, we proudly marked the 30th anniversary of our signature fundraising initiative, the Heart Foundation Lottery. We achieved this milestone only with the support of our major sponsor Jennian Homes, their product partners, and the thousands of kind-hearted New Zealanders who purchase tickets.

A heartfelt thank you to our supporters
 

We would like to offer a huge thank you to our kind-hearted supporters, including individuals, organisations and trusts. You make a difference to thousands of New Zealanders, every day. Without your commitment to the cause, we could not achieve our work in communities across the country.

We are making New Zealand hearts stronger together.

  • A.H. Couch Trust
  • AIA NZ
  • Andrew and Jenny Smith
  • Aotearoa Gaming Trust
  • Associate Professor Martin Stiles
  • Bert & May Wilson Charitable Trust
  • Betsy and Michael Benjamin
  • Bettie Beech
  • Blue Star Group (NZ) Ltd
  • Boehringer Ingelheim
  • Brian Wackrow
  • Calista Olson
  • Dianne Aubin
  • Dorothy Cutts
  • Douglas & Marge Bassett
  • Emeritus Professor Ruth Bonita & Emeritus Professor Robert Beaglehole
  • Ernest Hyam Davis And Ted and Mollie Carr Legacies
  • Four Winds Foundation 
  • G.R. Winn Trust
  • Grace Alison Craston Charitable Trust
  • Graham Still
  • Hilda Curtis Charitable Trust
  • Hynds Foundation
  • Hynds Pipe Systems
  • ILT Foundation
  • J A Hanning Enterprises Ltd
  • Jack Jeffs Charitable Trust
  • Jackie Winthrop
  • Jennian Homes
  • Jill Couch 
  • Kinetik Wellbeing
  • Kiwi Gaming Foundation
  • Longford Trust
  • Mark Cowsill 
  • Milestone Foundation Limited
  • Murray Jenkinson
  • My Food Bag
  • N H Taylor Charitable Trust
  • N R and J H Thomson Charitable Trust
  • New Zealand Community Trust (NZCT)
  • New Zealand Lottery Grants Board
  • Noble Heights Trust
  • North Harbour Water Polo Club
  • Northern Area Indoor Bowls Association
  • Nova Charitable Trust
  • One Foundation
  • Oxford Sports Trust
  • P A Blackmore Trust
  • Pelorus Trust
  • Perpetual Guardian 
  • Professor Mark Richards
  • Professor Rob Doughty
  • Pub Charity Limited
  • R & A J Francis Charitable Trust
  • Rātā Foundation
  • RHCNZ - Auckland Radiology, Bay Radiology, Pacific Radiology
  • Robert Edward Oates
  • Roche Diagnostics New Zealand
  • Room-Simmonds Charitable Trust
  • Royston Health Trust
  • South Canterbury Trusts - A and R Edgar South Canterbury Trust
  • T M Hosking Charitable Trust
  • The D'Mello Family 
  • The Dowdall Trust 
  • The Estate Of Joan Rogers
  • The Estate Of Jocelyn Isobel Shackleton
  • The Legion of Frontiersmen Charitable Organisation N' Squadron Inc
  • The Lion Foundation
  • The Moffat Family Trust
  • The Owen & John Whitfield Charitable Trust 
  • The Parnell Hotel & Conference Centre
  • The Reed Charitable Trust
  • The Ron Gilbertson Family Trust
  • The Trustees of the Ray Watts Charitable Trust
  • The Trusts Community Foundation 
  • The Winton & Margaret Bear (Charitable) Trust's Children's Heart Health Care Trust
  • Torbay Senior Citizens Club 
  • Trillian Trust
  • Trust House Foundation
  • Unichem and Life Pharmacy
  • W N Pharazyn Charitable Trust
  • Zena and Jack Peat Charitable Trust