Kindness of community helps to raise funds for defibrillator
A community has come together to help raise funds for a defibrillator at a pub.
The staff and regulars of the Manor Arms in Rushall have worked with charity fundraisers Sean Reynolds and Rob Harper to raise nearly £2,000 for the defibrillator, which has been installed at the pub.
Mr Reynolds said the idea for the fundraising had come from speaking to Mr Harper following the end of his time volunteering with the Make-a-Wish foundation and talking about how the pub had supported him and what he wanted to do next.
He said: "I had spent 11 years with the foundation, which helps children with life-threatening and life-changing illnesses, and after resigning from my role as a volunteer, I was talking to Rob Harper, who had helped me with fundraising.
"I said it would be nice to give back to the community, who had always supported me over the last 11 years, and it was Rob who came up with the idea of raising for the defibrillator for the pub, which was such a good idea."
Mr Reynolds said the work began in February to raise £1,600, which came from a range of activities including football cards, raffles for hampers prepared by the pub, DVD and jumble sales and other fundraising events.
He said that by June, the total raised was around £1,914, which allowed for the pub to buy the defibrillator and also donate the rest to the British Heart Foundation, and said he was thankful for the kindness of the pub regulars, the staff and the community as a whole.
He said: "The regulars all played their part and there was a lot of passing trade, with people walking by and seeing what was going on and taking part, so there was lots of people involved.
"I just want to say a massive thank you to everyone who got involved, with Rob Harper and Kelly at the Manor Arms deserving real credit for this, and it's just a really nice story for everyone.
"The defibrillator has been installed and we'll have someone come down to give formal training on how to use it, so it will be really useful and a valuable resource for the community."
Sean Reynolds and staff from The Manor Arms pub have come together to raise almost £2,000 to install a defibrillator to serve the community, with the remaining funds going to the British Heart Foundation.
