On Friday 24th March I had the pleasure of visiting the Sturminster and Stockwood Community Association at their club house in Sturminster.
Councillor Graham Morris applied to defibshop in relation to the donate a defibrillator scheme and his comprehensive application and reasoning bagged him a unit.
When I went to present the unit to the Association I was greeted by a number of very friendly, interested and well informed individuals whose concern about their wider community was warming to hear. Whilst the installation of these units had not specifically been driven from an event within the community, the lessons learnt from an ill community member had spurred on the decision to ensure defibrillators are not only available, but frequent through their local area and the wider community.
I arrived as the club house opened at 2pm and within 30/40 minutes the building was filling up with community members from tiny toddlers to the older generation. This was a big driver in Councillor Grahams application. Such a well-used community hub would be hit hard if an SCA occurred and their nearest unit was over a 3 minute drive away.
This community, who had initially committed to fund raising to buy a defibrillator, can now concentrate their efforts on raising the funds for an outdoor cabinet for the unit to be put in and placed on the outside wall of the building making it available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year for the entire community.
I sincerely hope they will never have the reason to use their new defibrillator, but know that should such an emergency occur they are now well equipped to help that individual and feel that every possible chance has been given to them, whatever the outcome.
If you would like to be in with a chance to receive a defibrillator for your local charity/community, please contact us today
