Defibrillators donated to clubs after Wellingborough man's charity road trip

The rally drivers on their return to Isham in June.

Carl Baldry and fellow organiser Richard Armitage’s Rust Bucket Rally saw 40 teams cover 2,500 miles in four days in June, taking in 10 countries.

Every year the rally raises money for charity and this year’s trip raised £40,000 for national cardiac charity SADS UK.

The money has enabled a number of defibrillators to be donated into the community and Isham Cricket Club is one of many organisations to receive a defibrillator after it was nominated by Nicola Reid.

Carl Baldry and Richard Armitage, organisers of the Rust Bucket Rally, said: “The Rust Bucket Rally is delighted to be able to place a defibrillator at this cricket club.

“Plans are already underway for next year’s Rust Bucket Rally as we continue to raise vital funds for local charities.”

The cricket club understands how important it is to provide early defibrillation when a person suffers a cardiac arrest.

Defibrillator training will be carried out today (November 20) at 6.30pm and Nicola Reid will be attending the training event.

The defibrillator is lifesaving equipment that works to restore the heart rhythm if a person goes into cardiac arrest and the earlier a defibrillator is used the better the chance is of survival.

The defibrillator placed at the cricket club is easy to use, providing voice prompts to the rescuer.

As well as assisting organisations to put defibrillators in place SADS UK is also making more community public access defibrillators available, housed in heated metal cabinets.

“The defibrillator at Isham Cricket Club is in a heated metal cabinet situated outside the building, so that the general public may also use it if there is a cardiac emergency.”

Anne Jolly MBE, founder of SADS UK, the Ashley Jolly SAD Trust, said: “SADS UK is grateful to Carl Baldry and Richard Armitage for choosing the cardiac charity as their nominated charity for the Rust Bucket Rally 2018.

“We are pleased that Isham Cricket Club now has a defibrillator to restart the heart if there is a cardiac arrest on the premises.

“Using CPR alone provides a 5 per cent chance of survival but early use of the defibrillator as well increases the chance of survival to more than 50 per cent.

“This is why SADS UK is so passionate about putting this lifesaving equipment in the community.”

The SADS UK Big Shock Campaign to legislate to make defibrillators available in all schools and widely in the community has the support of the ambulance services, the charity’s patron Dr Hilary Jones, Good Morning Britain and Dame Helen Mirren who heads the charity’s defibrillator leaflet.

After meeting with policymakers, SADS UK is pleased that the Department for Education is advising schools to consider the defibrillator as part of their first aid equipment.

This gives the Big Shock Campaign for legislating for defibrillators in all schools an enormous boost.

Copies of ‘The Warning Signs’ leaflets have been provided to the Cricket Club to assist people who may have an underlying cardiac condition to be identified and treated.

If you would like further information about funding research into SADS or placing a defibrillator in your community contact Anne Jolly at SADS UK on 01277 811215 or email [email protected].