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South Western Ambulance Charity is set to boost community preparedness across the South West after becoming one of the first NHS ambulance charities to receive funding from the NHS Charities Together Community Resilience Grants Fund.
The £1.85m fund, delivered in partnership with Omaze and supported by proceeds from the Million Pound House Draw, aims to equip more people across the UK with the skills and confidence to respond to life-threatening emergencies. The South Western Ambulance Charity’s award will help fund a package of initiatives designed to improve cardiac arrest survival rates and increase access to defibrillators in the region.
“This grant will allow us to strengthen our work in equipping communities with the skills and resources needed to respond effectively in emergencies. By improving access to defibrillators, providing essential training, supporting our volunteer Community First Responders and with particular focus on ensuring health equity, we can help to save more lives across the South West.”
Zoe Larter, Head of the South Western Ambulance Charity.
Only around 10% of people who suffer a cardiac arrest outside of hospital survive, but early recognition, CPR and defibrillation can significantly improve outcomes. The charity’s initiatives aim to close that gap by bringing lifesaving skills to more people and increasing defibrillator coverage through better registration and visibility.
Key areas of investment include:
- Two new Community Response Vehicles, now in use by SWASFT’s volunteer Community First Responders, to enable faster attendance at emergency incidents.
- A region-wide defibrillator registration programme, supporting the correct installation and registration of devices. Already, 84% of schools across the South West have registered their defibrillators on The Circuit, the national defibrillator network.
- A new Community Ambassador volunteer programme, training individuals to deliver CPR and defibrillation sessions and encouraging sign-up to GoodSAM, a platform connecting trained responders to nearby cardiac arrests.
The charity is also celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. Alongside the new initiatives, it continues to fund projects that support ambulance staff and volunteers, including a recent appeal to raise £210,000 to equip additional Community Response Vehicles.
“The project has the potential to make a huge difference to the people living in the South West by helping them recognise the early signs of a life-threatening emergency and how to respond. In addition to helping improve chances of survival, by educating people to know how to respond in a health emergency – or even prevent it from happening in the first place – we can also help reduce pressure on the NHS, which has never been more important.”
Jon Goodwin, Head of Grants at NHS Charities Together.
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