Cash bonus for Heartstart!

June 5^th 2002

The organisers of Bury St Edmunds Heartstart project were pleased to receive a cheque for £1,325 from local chartered accountancy firm Knights Lowe on Tuesday 28th May.

The money was raised from a charity go-kart challenge, in which local firms are invited to enter a team in a fun event and raise money for a worthwhile charity at the same time.

"We have organised the annual Knights Lowe Charity Go-Kart challenge for four years  running now, and have been pleased with the positive reception this event has got from local businesses," said Neil Sandry of Knights Lowe. "This year 12 firms from the Bury area took part, and everyone enjoyed pretending to be Michael Schumacher for the night.  It is very rewarding to be able to raise money for a good cause and have an evening of quality entertainment as well."

Glasswell and Last were the winners of this year s event, followed by Thoroughbred Financial Services Ltd in second place and Driver Transport Training Ltd. in third place.

The Heartstart project aims to save lives by training the public in basic life support skills.  As part of a national initiative by the British Heart Foundation, the training targets schools, businesses, voluntary organisations and patient/carer groups.  Resuscitation trainers at the West Suffolk Hospital   Barry Smith, Liz Whittaker and Julie Head   are leading the project.

"The purpose of Heartstart is not to train the public to do the role of paramedics or doctors, but to teach people how to deliver basic emergency care while they await the arrival of the professionals," said Barry.  "A multiprofessional team of trainers, including paramedics, hospital consultants, nurses and members of the voluntary services, all give up their time for free. 

The money raised by Knights Lowe will be spent on running costs, such as providing equipment and hiring venues." The next training session, which is free to interested members of the public, will take place at St James Middle School on 11th June from 3.30-9pm. As well as learning about the recovery position and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, people will be taught what to do when someone is choking or experiencing chest pain.  For more details, please contact Liz Whittaker on 01284 713 508.

"This training will help to save lives," said Liz Whittaker.  "If someone collapses in the street and a person who has been trained in basic life support skills attends to them, their chance of survival is doubled."