A primary school in Deeping St James has been able to install a life-saving piece of equipment thanks to the support of a local housebuilder.
Vistry East Midlands, which is building new homes in the village, contributed £500 towards purchasing a defibrillator for Deeping St James Community Primary School.
The device – which cost £795 – has been installed inside the school’s main reception area. The pupils raised the rest of the funds through a cake sale.
Defibrillators deliver a dose of electrical energy to the body to restore a regular heartbeat in the event of a cardiac arrest, and contain simple instructions that mean untrained members of the public can use them.
Becky Barrett, chair of the school’s parent-teacher association, said: “We’ve been wanting to purchase a defibrillator for a long time, as they can be quite literally lifesaving in the unfortunate event of an emergency.
“We were struggling financially to find the budget for it, so we decided to reach out to Vistry as they’ve previously supported us with a donation to our Christmas raffle. We were so pleased when they agreed to contribute £500 to our cause.
“This contribution covered most of the funds for the defibrillator and enabled us to order it pretty much straight after our bake sale. We’d like to say a massive thank you to Vistry for their generosity – it is a great comfort knowing that we now have this device installed.”
Vistry East Midlands is part of the Vistry Group which includes Linden Homes, Bovis Homes and Vistry Partnerships. The housebuilder is currently delivering new Linden Homes properties at its Springfields location in the village, off Linchfield Road.
Weronika Maslak, sales manager at Springfields, said: “We are committed to establishing and building relationships with local schools in the areas in which we build, so we were very keen to support Deeping St James Community Primary School for a second time.
“Defibrillators are vital safety devices and the more there are out there, the more lives that could potentially be saved. We hope it will provide reassurance to the school for many years to come.”
For more information about Springfields, visit lindenhomes.co.uk/eastmidlands
CAPTIONS:
• (L/R) Weronika Maslak, sales manager at Linden Homes’ Springfields development, and assistant site manager Rosie Howard, with Becky Barrett, chair of the school’s parent-teacher association, and Karli Edmondson-Matthews.
Contact: Press.Office@vistrygroup.co.uk
