Full force of volunteers needed to fight heart disease: Become a Big Heart Appeal street collector

Published: 20 November 2025

Big-hearted volunteers will be out in full force in February 2026 as part of the Heart Foundation’s biggest fundraiser of the year, the Big Heart Appeal.

The Heart Foundation is calling on New Zealanders to gift just two hours of their time on Friday 27 or Saturday 28 February 2026 to help raise life-saving funds for heart research by becoming a Big Heart Appeal street collector.

“Heart disease is our number one killer, claiming the life of one New Zealander every 90 minutes,” Heart Foundation Medical Director Dr Gerry Devlin says.

“Volunteering for us is a crucial way that you can help in the fight against heart disease.

“Funds raised help us make a vital difference whether it is supporting research that leads to improved treatments and medications, to investing in overseas training for cardiologists so we can offer world-class treatments in New Zealand,” Gerry says.

Thanks to generous donations, the Heart Foundation has helped drive major advances in treating heart attacks, heart failure, rhythm disorders and cardiac arrest.
 
But the need remains urgent. Every 45 minutes, a New Zealander is admitted to hospital with a heart attack.
 
“We want our researchers, innovators, doctors and nurses to keep shifting the dial to improve heart health for New Zealanders and their families.”
 
Dean Buswell, from Mairangi Bay, who has lived with heart disease since 1999 and has had five stents inserted over the past 25 years, is one of many volunteers stepping up to support the Big Heart Appeal street collection.
 
While Dean’s father died from heart failure at the age of 67, he credits medical advancements with saving his own life and believes the Big Heart Appeal is crucial to continuing to fund improvement in heart health.
 
“My father underwent heart surgery in his late 50s and from what I’ve been told, they opened him up, realised there was little they could do, and sewed him shut again [before his death].
 
“I just think about how far things have come since my dad’s day,” Dean says, referring to his own extensive journey. “Who knows how much longer he would have lived if he had the same treatment opportunities as I did.”
  
Now 69 and determined to live a fuller life than his father was afforded, Dean is encouraging others to become volunteer street collectors too.
  
“I’ve been inspired to volunteer in the Big Heart Appeal street collection because I’m grateful for the treatment I received,” he says. “I’ve been given more time to enjoy my life, and I want to use some of it to pay it forward. It’s for a worthwhile cause.
 
“It’s absolutely worth giving a try — all it takes is just two hours of your day.”