A new defibrillator has been installed in Cleator Moor through a partnership between Skills 4 You and Northern Community Bank. The defibrillator, located on Cleator Moor’s High Street in the former Chamber of Trade building, was funded and installed through a charitable donation by Northern Community Bank, the not-for-profit community bank that provides savings accounts, financial education and affordable loans to the local community.
In the UK, around 60,000 people have an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest every year and less than 1 in 10 people survive. According to the North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) defibrillation within five minutes can result in survival rates as high as 70%.
The Skills 4 You defibrillator is registered on The Circuit – the national defibrillator network, which connects defibrillators to NHS ambulance services across the UK. In the North West there are over 8,900 defibrillators on The Circuit and 94,000 nationally. Yvette Browne, NWAS Community Resuscitation Engagement Officer highlighted how vital defibrillators in the community can be
Thousands of families in the UK are left devasted by cardiac arrest every year. Early use of a defibrillator with cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) can more than double a person’s chance of survival. The defibrillator is available for use when calling 999 and the closest available defibrillator will be allocated, anyone can use a defibrillator and is designed for the untrained user.
Laura Bland, Project Leader at Skills 4 You, highlighted how the life-saving equipment could potentially help many people in the community at a time of need
Skills 4 You is a charity committed to supporting individuals on their journey to employment, offering them the skills and guidance needed to succeed. We are deeply grateful to Northern Community Bank for selecting our building as the location for this vital defibrillator. This life-saving device not only ensures the safety of our participants, staff, visitors and passers by, but also demonstrates the powerful impact of community collaboration in fostering a safer and more supportive environment for all.
Jim Youdale, founder member of Cleator Moor Community Bank and former director of Affinity Community Bank, attended the reveal of the defibrillator at Skills 4 You. Jim explained how pleasing it was to see Northern Community Bank, which merged with Affinity Community Bank in 2021, was still supporting the community, just as the credit union founders envisaged in 1994
It’s heartening to see that Northern Community Bank, the principal Community Bank serving the people of Cumbria, not only provides its members with an impressive range of financial products but is also committed to making charitable donations for the benefit of local communities.
You can find out the location of the nearest defibrillator to you by using this website www.defibfinder.uk
