Albert Polden's Hearts Minds & Voices

Hearts, Minds & Voices Campaign –

The Hearts, Minds & Voices Campaign was created by the Snowdown Colliery Welfare Male Voice Choir with several aims. While its original purpose was to raise funds for charity and encourage new members to join the choir, it quickly grew into a mission with deeper social impact.

Why These Charities?
Why This Campaign?

During the planning stages, it became clear that the campaign should benefit more than one cause. The selection of the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and StrongMen was shaped by two realities affecting men across the UK:

1. HEARTS – The Risk of Heart Disease in Men (British Heart Foundation)

Heart and circulatory diseases remain one of the biggest health challenges facing men in the UK:

• More than 7.6 million people in the UK live with heart and circulatory diseases, including over 4 million men.
• Heart and circulatory diseases cause around 174,693 deaths annually, representing 26% of all UK deaths—that’s 480 deaths every day, or one every three minutes.
• Around 49,000 people under 75 die from these diseases each year.
• Each day in the UK, there are 270 hospital admissions due to heart attacks, and 180 people die from coronary heart disease, the most common heart condition.
• The British Heart Foundation forecasts that cases will continue rising, with 1 million more people projected to be living with heart or circulatory disease by 2030.
Impact of Supporting BHF
The BHF is the UK’s largest independent funder of cardiovascular research. Financial support enables:

• Groundbreaking research—over £108.4m in research grants awarded in a single recent year.
• Over 717 active research projects, including lifesaving innovations such as pacemakers, cardiac surgery techniques, and defibrillator networks.
• Training for over 311,000 people in CPR, improving survival rates from cardiac arrest.
• A nationwide impact: BHFfunded research has helped halve UK heartdisease deaths since the 1960s.
What financial support can achieve:
More investment accelerates research breakthroughs, improves diagnosis and recovery, expands public health programmes, and strengthens community defibrillator access—potentially saving thousands more lives.

2. MINDS – Bereavement, Mental Health & Male Grief (StrongMen)

Many members of the choir, like countless men across the UK, have experienced bereavement that has deeply affected their emotional wellbeing. Research shows the scale of the issue:

• 80% of men feel alone in their grief, with 52% hiding their emotions from those closest to them.
• 41% of bereaved men use alcohol or drugs to cope—with 24% doing so daily during bereavement.
• 33% fear exclusion if they open up emotionally, leading many to grieve in silence.
• The UK Commission on Bereavement found 6.8 million bereavements during the pandemic, with over 40% of adults who wanted formal support receiving none.
These statistics reveal how urgently men need targeted emotional support when coping with loss.

Impact of Supporting StrongMen
StrongMen provides specialist bereavement support designed specifically for men, including:

• Man2Man telephone peer support, delivered by trained volunteers with lived experience.
• Man2Man Extra Time, offering up to 12 free counselling sessions via video call.
• Weekender Retreats, creating safe spaces for men to build community, share experiences, and rebuild emotional resilience.
• Talks and support programmes aimed at breaking down stigma around male grief.
What financial support can achieve:
Increased funding helps expand retreat capacity, train additional peer supporters, offer more free counselling sessions, and reach men who might otherwise suffer in silence.

3. VOICES – The Choir's Role Since 1929

Founded in 1929, the Snowdown Colliery Welfare Male Voice Choir has for nearly a century provided:

• A community where men can meet, share experiences, and support one another
• A sense of belonging and emotional expression through music
• A collective "voice" that brings awareness to issues affecting men’s physical and mental health
In this campaign:

• BHF provides the Heart
• StrongMen provides the Mind
• The Choir provides the Voice
Together, these elements form a powerful alliance addressing the health and emotional wellbeing of men across the UK.