Club shows heart to get life-saving device

The Stanley Ward club in Common Edge Road now has a defibrillator unit on the wall outside, ready for emergency teams should an incident happen in the area.

Members at the club raised the money after noticing that other areas of the town had such a device which can be used to restart hearts when people have cardiac arrests.

Chairman at the club Graham Baker said: “It was a suggestion that came up from one of the members and so we set up a collection.

“We had generous donations from councillors Jason Roberts and Andrew Stansfield and from Lily Henderson and altogether gathered £2,200. The club will cover the annual maintenance and insurance to cover each year and the ongoing cost of the batteries so we will keep the collection going.

“We had great help from the Community Heartbeat Trust who help keep a record and will help with the maintenance. The defibrillator is on the north wall of the club in a locked cabinet with CCTV and it is not just for the club, it is for the benefit of the whole community.

“People just ring 999 with the code on the box and follow instructions.

“Emergency services crews will be able to use it too and it is fitted with a GPS tracker so Community Heartbeat Trust can keep a track on it when it is in use.”

The defibrillator was given an official launch which was carried out by club member Brenda Heyes who donated towards the cost on a regular basis.

Graham added: “We also had a charity fund raising day on Sunday August 28 on behalf of the “Community Heartbeat Trust”, by way of a thank you for all their help in getting it under way. I was subjected to a dousing with wet sponges in the stocks as one of the fund raising activities.

“We made £400 which will be sent to them this week.”