British Heart Foundation turns memorial benches into celebrations of survival

The British Heart Foundation (BHF), in partnership with Saatchi & Saatchi, has launched a striking out-of-home campaign that reimagines a familiar public artefact — the park bench — as a powerful vehicle for human stories and heart health awareness. Titled “In Living Memory,” the idea flips the traditional memorial bench on its head by celebrating those who have survived cardiovascular disease, rather than memorialising those who have died.

To mark its 65th anniversary, BHF installed 65 bright red commemorative benches across parks, high streets and town centres throughout the UK. Each bench is dedicated to a real individual whose life was saved thanks to BHF-funded research, and will remain in situ for at least five years. The benches, painted in the charity’s signature red, feature bronze plaques with a name, open–ended dates and a brief description of the person’s journey through diagnosis, treatment and recovery.

The campaign taps into a deeply-engrained British tradition — park bench memorials — which often carry poignant reminders of lives once lived. In contrast, BHF’s benches honour lives still unfolding, with each location chosen close to where the survivor lives, inviting everyday encounters with these personal stories.

Unscripted conversations between survivors and their families form the emotional core of the wider campaign. Filmed and photographed on the benches by teams from Saatchi & Saatchi and Raw Research, these real moments are being used across TV, social, online video, print, radio and press, making the bench the centrepiece of an integrated communications effort.