This year the Women’s Institute will be celebrating its Centenary and as a branch of East Kent, Upchurch are no exception with 40+ members meeting monthly in the Village Hall. The committee and members are united in wanting to do something to mark the occasion and would like to provide, with your help, a Defibrillator for our village and the community.
We have started the ball rolling by informing the Parish Council of our plans as we value their support and yours and we have been in touch with The Community HeartBeat Trust who have provided us with a Project Guide on a Community Public Access Defibrillator. Other rural areas are already realising the importance of these projects and how it can reduce the constraints on ambulance services. The cost of this would be in the region of £2500 and already donations have been promised towards this target.
Over the next few weeks we will be writing to organisations to see if they would like to contribute in some monetary way. This doesn’t have to be a huge sum although that is always welcome. You could hold a raffle, coffee morning or any fund raising event. If we all pull together we can achieve what might seem an impossible task to some, but for our community here in Upchurch, we know we can do it. A Defibrillator can be a lifesaving piece of equipment that you now see in many public places and who knows – it might be one of us who are in need one day.
The Defibrillator will need to be sited in the centre of the village and will be in a locked, weatherproof cabinet. Several local venues have been identified and individuals will be contacted with regards to their thoughts and participation. As a WI we are planning to host an open session in the next few months when we will be explaining this in more detail so please keep a look out for further information.
We do hope that you are as enthusiastic as we are and can offer your support and even consider coming along to one of our meetings which are held in the Village Hall on the 2nd Tuesday of every month barring August. We are just like Marmite, you will either love us or hate us but you don’t know until you try!
In the meantime, if you would like to contact us with regards to any of the aforementioned, please ring any one of the following;
Carol Williams (President of Upchurch WI - 01634 924231)
Gill Holland (Committee Member - 01634 366114)
Jan Bunting (Member - 01634 375109)
WI Website: www.thewi.org.uk
The Community HeartBeat Trust Website: www.communityheartbeat.org.uk
Thank you all for taking the time to read this. Goodbye for now.
Upchurch WI
Upchurch WI
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