THE team at DFS Stirling at Springkerse Retail Park are celebrating after helping to raise an amazing £13m for the British Heart Foundation (BHF).

To tie in with BHF’s ‘Wear It. Beat It.’ campaign on Friday, June 9 the outlet, and the other 108 stores across the UK, are thrilled with their collective fundraising milestone of over £13m to help support the charity through its sofa donation project, which launched in May 2012.

To celebrate DFS Team GB brand ambassador and double gold medallist Max Whitlock has been showcasing not only the importance of recycling unwanted sofas, but also the exercises that can be done on them to help keep your heart healthy.

The scheme allows DFS’ hundreds of thousands of customers to have their unwanted sofa collected for free by the BHF when their new DFS one is delivered.

The old sofa is then sold by the BHF in one of its furniture and electrical stores across the country to help raise money to fund life saving heart research.

Commenting on the stores fundraising success, Max said: “Shirley Ann Young and the team at DFS Stirling have done a fantastic job helping to reach the £13m milestone.

"These funds are vital in supporting the fantastic work the British Heart Foundation do when it comes to supporting life saving heart research, and all it takes to help is simply recycle your unwanted sofas.”

Double Olympic champion Max has also devised the ultimate sofa workout, designed to be completed while watching your favourite programmes.

He said: “From sofa dips to armchair squats the simple workout is perfect for any fitness levels; you don’t need to be a gold medal gymnast to get active and keep your heart healthy."

Shirley Ann Young, store manager at DFS Stirling, said: “It’s a sobering thought to think that on average 435 people lose their lives to cardiovascular disease (CVD) every day, so myself and the entire Stirling team are proud to know that all money raised from the sofa donation project supports the British Heart Foundation’s life saving research.

“There are no words to describe the importance of what the BHF do in our communities to help make sure more of us than ever before survive our battles with cardiovascular disease and support our loved ones whose battles are ongoing.”

Mike Taylor, retail director at the British Heart Foundation, added: “We’re so grateful to DFS and their customers for raising a staggering £13 million since the partnership was formed in 2012.

"These vital funds help to power life saving heart research across the UK to beat contrary heart disease, the UK’s single biggest killer.

“What’s equally impressive is the fact that thanks to the generosity of DFS customers, over 102,000 sofas that could have gone to waste have been given a new lease of life and a new home thanks to our furniture and electrical stores.”