Martham Village Defibrillator Project Update
Cllrs Bob Fossey (Chairman) and Sharon Coates who launched the Martham Village Defibrillator Project, with the installation of the first defibrillator at Martham Fire Station.
The Parish Council are happy to announce the launch of The Martham defibrillator fund raising campaign. A need for more defibrillators was recognised last year when the defibrillator near the sports and social club was found to be unusable. It was recognised then, that there is a need to increase the number of 24-hour accessible defibrillators in our growing village and set aside reserve funds to maintain them. We currently have one defibrillator on the Fire station on Rollesby Road and the Coop has one on The Green.
We are working with Jayne Biggs’ charity Heart 2 Heart Norfolk. The registered non-profit making charity, set up in 2016, has raised funds and placed several hundred defibrillators across Norfolk and Suffolk. Jayne very kindly came to a parish council arranged session in March, to do a training session / update on CPR and how to use the public access defibrillators. This event was advertised across social media and posters in the parish council notice board, and Jayne continues to be extremely supportive with our campaign. To give an example of how often a public access defibrillator is required, 9 of Jayne’s defibrillators were accessed or used over the last Easter weekend across Norfolk and Suffolk.
The ‘G3 Power heart cardiac science defibrillators’ for which we’re fundraising come with a cabinet, spare pads, first aid bag and cost approx. £1500 for all the equipment. These will be purchased through Heart 2 Heart Norfolk. The equipment is guaranteed for 8 years and is endorsed by East of England ambulance service. Part of the funds we’ll raise will be used for ongoing maintenance and replacement of pads and equipment in the future.
Along with all the Heart 2 Heart defibrillators, Martham’s current defibrillators are registered on a national website called The Circuit, which keeps up to date information on defibrillators which are ‘rescue ready’. This enables emergency services to see where the nearest active defibrillator is in the event of an emergency. The Circuit website is updated weekly when volunteers check the equipment.
For 2024, our current fundraising plans are:
- To hold 2 used book and jigsaw stalls, one in at 28 Repps road at the Scarecrow Festival and the other at Martham Carnival (location TBC). Book and Jigsaw donations welcome. Call Sharon Coates on 07513985693 or our Clerk Stacey Kent at clerk@martham.gov.uk. Donations can be collected from your home.
- Hosting a fish and chip quiz in the village Hall on Saturday July 6th and hopefully in November. There will be up to 14 tables for teams of up to 6 participants. To book please contact Sharon Coates on 07513985693 or email mpcchairman@martham.gov.uk.
- For Councillor Bob Fossey to take on a sponsored bike ride along The Rebellion way this year. 232 miles in total. We’ll share details how to sponsor him soon.
We welcome your ideas for fundraising activities. If you’d like to fundraise for us, please get in touch so that we can support you and help promote your activities.
If you would like to make a donation please visit our Martham Defibrillator GoFundMe page or contact us.