When residents in Weston under Penyard set their minds to raising funds for a defibrillator, they did not expect to be able to organise five of the livesaving pieces of equipment for the Parish.

Residents raised over £2,500 for a defibrillator which has been placed in the refurbished telephone box opposite the Weston Cross. Such was the enthusiasm for the project in the Parish that an application was made to Awards for All Lottery funding to place defibrillators around the Parish. The application has been successful, and now a further four can be obtained. The total cost to be met by the Lottery grant will be almost £9,000.

Rod Barker, a member of the small group organising the project said “a defibrillator can save the life of a person who suffers a cardiac arrest (heart attack) which can happen at any time at any age. We will have additional defibrillator at our Village Hall, and we are looking into placing one each in Pontshill, Bromsash and Lea Bailey.”

About 50 people have now received training in the use of the equipment and in CPR. More training is planned as the roll-out continues.

Doug Skeggs, another member of the group told the Ross Gazette that this had been a real success story for the Village. “Everyone got behind us to raise the initial funding and attend training, and now we can ensure that life saving equipment is accessible throughout the parish.”

The first of the additional defibrillators has now been ordered and the rest will follow as soon as appropriate sites have been identified.

What started off as project to provide a single defibrillator, generously funded by local people and businesses has grown to be a parish-wide benefit, thanks to Awards for All Lottery Funding.