Defibrillator Fundraiser Afternoon Tea Thankyou
We are grateful to our guests who joined us for Afternoon Tea at Primrose Hall on Saturday 26th September and enjoyed a splendid selection of food, teas and coffee, prepared and served by Rich and Fancy, with Prosecco and soft drinks. The food was complemented by the entertaining Wakefield Community Choir who sang a mixture of early and mid 20 th century popular songs. The event raised just over £1000 which will be used to maintain some of the defibrillators in the Horbury and Ossett areas and be put towards the cost of additional ones. Our thanks for supporting the Afternoon Tea also go to The Trustees and staff of Primrose Hall, Paul at Leach Catering, Adam Rasburn, and Community Champion Bev from Morrisons supermarket, Dewsbury Road.
A NEW DEFIBRILLATOR
Some other good news the installation of an additional defibrillator on Oakwood Grove, Horbury will go ahead during October and we are grateful to local residents and The Horbury Common Lands Trust who have provided the funding – a project and process which started in May 2026 coming to fruition.
INSTALLING DEFIBRILLATORS - THE PROCESS
The funding and installation of Defibrillators is not simply a matter of raising the cash, there is a process to be followed including:
1. Ensuring a geographical spread.
2. Identifying the potential beneficial population.
3. Finding a suitable site with 24-hour access.
4. Gaining the permission of the site owner including an undertaking to enable an electrical connection.
5. Identifying suitable equipment and a secure cabinet with 24-hour access for use by the public.
6. Identifying a Guardian(s), a person or people who undertake regular checks to ensure the equipment is in working order, a 52 weeks per year commitment.
7. Providing the funding to maintain the equipment and the replacement of consumables if the defibrillator is used or the seals that ensure hygiene are broken.
Only when the above is completed (i.e. all the ducks are in a row) is it sensible/possible to go ahead with funding, whether that be from charitable funds, business donations, or from public funds through grants from our Local Authority (WMDC) or Government.
FUNDING
The offer of financial support is always welcome, and not ignored, however it is not a simple matter of making the application – the process has to be followed and documented before money from the Local Authority (WMDC) can be authorised to fund any installation, Such funding will not be approved (Capital cost) unless item 7 is in place but will not finance items identified at item 7(Revenue costs). It is simplistic and misleading to suggest otherwise and may undermine continuing efforts to maintain what we currently have or install further Defibrillators.
We have been party to the installation of 18 defibrillators since 2020. 2 Defibrillators installed in the past 12 months with the financial support of the Local Authority and our then
Councillors. The process of making the application and gaining approval alone took 7 weeks (after a lot of work prior to that) – that is not a criticism just a fact of life - we are very grateful for that help and are delighted that our new Councillors have expressed a willingness to support any future applications and encouraged us to continue the work.
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Politics & Rotary
As a Rotary Club we are a-political, a-sectarian and a-religious but individual members may hold whatever views they wish as long as these do not interfere with the positions of Rotary neutrality. Membership of the club is about service to the community not self or political interest.
