We are thrilled to announce the successful installation of a life-saving defibrillator at The Flour Pot Bakery at Fiveways in Brighton.
The SHC is committed to supporting the installation of publicly accessible AED across Sussex and we were therefore delighted to fund this project together with members of the Fiveways community.
Thank you to Dave, Rebecca, Gill and the local volunteers from the Hythe Road residents’ group for bringing the project to us, and for their efforts in organising the project. Their campaign started when Rebecca asked the Hythe Road ‘WhatsApp’ group if anyone would be interested in getting a defib for the area. Dave teamed up with Rebecca to start the project and other residents joined to start the fundraising campaign. Dave’s father is the founder of the SHC and is a renowned cardiac pioneer from Brighton, so it was very fitting that they approached the SHC to help fund the project. And given this connection, we were delighted to be involved.
To raise funds and awareness, the group invited local Fiveways residents and traders to donate and get involved with CPR/AED training. It was great to see that the whole local community supported the project.
We are very grateful to Marianna and all the staff at The Flour Pot for their continuing support and for working with us and the residents on the project. Not only did The Flour Pot authorise the installation of the AED on their Fiveways property, but they also very generously donated 10% of their Rosti sales towards the fundraising and arranged and paid for the installation of the device.
The collaboration shows that by working together, we can all make a meaningful difference and enhance the safety of our local communities.
“I have a strong interest in AEDs and community training for cardiac arrest from my childhood in Brighton and pioneering work done by my father. It was natural to check out Sussex Heart Charity and your grant funding was just what we needed. Rebecca started correspondence with Sussex Heart Charity and with Flour Pot and the plan was hatched…The project would not have taken off without the support from Sussex Heart Charity which vastly reduced the effort to get up and running…and Flour Pot have been great” – Dave
The AED is located on the exterior wall of The Flour Pot, on the Hythe Road side of the building. The installation of an AED at this location was vital – Fiveways is a busy local community area, but it was not equipped with a defib, with the nearest unrestricted defib located over half a mile away.
Out of hospital cardiac arrests can be fatal – every minute that passes without medical intervention reduces the chances of survival by between 10% and 20%.
The new defib will therefore have a significant impact on community safety by ensuring a publicly accessible device is ready for a cardiac emergency 24/7.
The AED has been registered with The Circuit (the national defib database) – this means that 999 operators can now direct the emergency services and the public to the device in a cardiac emergency.
The residents’ group have now set up the ‘Hythe Road Defib Group’ – this enables them all to share the guardianship of the defib and to make sure a team of volunteers can oversee the long-term service and maintenance of the device.
“A wider team of volunteers have given time and expertise to help with training, communication, accepting roles to monitor and maintain the AED – truly a community effort” – Gill
If you are interested in finding out more about how to obtain funding for a defib in your community, please visit our website for information on our ‘AEDs in the community’ project:
https://www.sussexheartcharity.org/aeds-in-the-community/
