Wrong 'impression' sent to community reason why life-saving emergency aid cabinet taped up by Kettering sports club owners

Campaigners who have worked tirelessly to install life-saving equipment across Northamptonshire say they are disappointed that a community emergency aid cabinet has been taped-up and damaged.

Off the Streets NN had placed the red cabinet, containing emergency medical equipment, on the outer wall of the Windmill Club – a snooker and social club – in Edmund Street, Kettering.

But the owners of the club say the presence of the cabinet close to the entrance of the club could give the impression the bar has a problem with knife crime.

Rob and Amanda Benamore, owners of the Windmill Club, said: “Being a trustee of a local charity we fully support and understand all the good and hard work the volunteers do with raising awareness of knife crime and its consequences in our community.

"In our opinion having the bleed control box 12 inches away from the front entrance to the club would give some people, who haven’t been in the club, the impression that we have had trouble with knife crime and could potentially put them off coming in."

They added: “The Windmill Club is a long standing institution which is our job to ensure remains open in these difficult times.”

The cabinet, one of dozens attached to buildings across the county, including sports clubs, supermarkets, community centres and pubs, was taped over with heavy-duty gaffer tape this week.

Permission for the installation of the box has been given by the previous landlord.

Jane Capps, co-founder of Off the Streets NN, a community group set up after the death of Wellingborough teenager Dylan Holliday, says she is very disappointed by the ‘vandalism’.

She said: “We will be removing the cabinet from the wall, aiming to take it off on Saturday. We had to come over and take the tape off so the registered kit inside can still be accessed in the meantime.

"The cabinet has been damaged from the tape which will need repair. Once it’s repaired it will go on the wall at Willow Shopfitting Ltd which is located close by. We would like to thank Liam of Willow Shopfitting for allowing us to do this location move and so quickly too.

"We did have permission from the previous landlord and were assured the owners were consulted. The reason why it was installed there was because the previous landlord genuinely cares for his customers and community and understands the benefit of these bleed kits.

"It’s very disappointing that a prominent business within the community has had a change of heart. It’s a life-saving piece of kit. The reason we chose that location was it’s close to the main road and outlets selling alcohol. What if somebody fell down outside and needed it, had a car accident or any other critical bleed incident where someone may need the kit?”

The cabinet is registered with the ambulance service and is also registered with ‘Good Sam’ so responders as well as the public can access it in an emergency.

She added: “Taping it over like that delays people being able to access the bleed kit straight away. We will work with the emergency services to re register the kit once installed in its new home"

Jane and Ravaun Jones met with Princess Anne, the Princess Royal last month and showed the royal visitor the bleed cabinets – and their contents.

After the visit Ravaun had said: "Princess Anne praised our amazing work that we have been carrying out across Northamptonshire and showed a lot of interest in the amnesty bins and critical bleed control cabinets, which are used for disposal of sharp objects and reducing/stopping blood loss."She was also amazed by our overlay map showing all locations of our kits across Northamptonshire.”