June 2014
A local community has received a piece of life saving equipment thanks to a £2000 donation from Story Homes.
Clifton Parish, the location of Story Homes’ recent Clifton Hill Gardens development, took ownership of the defibrillator on behalf of the community.
The life saving equipment is based at Clifton School in the middle of the village and is accessible to everybody. The Ambulance Service provides the code to access the defibrillator when a 999 call is made. The defibrillator then talks the person through the process of using it to restart a heart.
A defibrillator is a machine that delivers an electric shock to the heart when someone is having a cardiac arrest. According to the British Heart Foundation, when somebody goes into cardiac arrest, every minute without CPR and defibrillation reduces their chances of survival by 10%.
Parish Councillor Diana Holliday said: “The defibrillator is a vital piece of machinery for a small community like Clifton and we are very grateful to Story Homes for their support. Although we have not had to use it yet, it is reassuring to know that it’s there should the village need it, and it is accessible to all.”
The British Heart Foundation has run a number of demonstration evenings in Clifton to train residents to use the defibrillator. Almost 20 people attended, ensuring a wide age mix of villagers received support to use the new equipment. More training is planned in the future.
Story Homes regularly provides support to local communities, including providing funding to support the refurbishment of Clifton Village Hall in 2013.
Speaking of the defibrillator donation, Story Homes Chief Executive Steve Errington said “In funding the purchase of this defibrillator for Clifton, we are highlighting our commitment to improving community facilities and we hope this donation will have a positive impact on the residents within the Parish of Clifton. For more than 25 years we have played a positive part in the areas surrounding our developments and we will continue to build and support strong neighbourhoods through our community involvement.”
