ACTION: Villagers dig deep to pay for two machines

Villagers have rallied round a campaign to pay for three life-saving defibrillators in Yarnton, near Kidlington.

Residents have given cash and groups raised funds for the devices, which anyone can use to try and shock the heart back to life for victims of cardiac arrest.

Two have been delivered and fundraising is ongoing for another of the £1,380 machines, which comes after a county-wide drive to get them into rural areas.

Council chairman Fred Jones said: "We have a very wide age range right through the village but we think it is important we have lots of activities that older people can be involved in.

"They use the village hall a lot, the older groups, so it makes sense to have one close."

Fundraising has been led by Yarnton Parish Council and the two it has bought are planned for outside Yarnton Village Hall, The Paddocks and Westlake Pharmacy, Spencer Avenue.

The third is hoped for the other side of the A44. The final locations have yet to be agreed.

Mr Jones said of Spencer Avenue: "A lot of older people do go into that area because of the chemists but also because it gives a spread across the residential areas."

Defibrillators have been hailed as vital as ambulance response times are lower in rural areas than in urban areas, where paramedic crews are based.

Callers to 999 are given a code to open a wall-mounted box containing the device and given audio instructions on how to use it. Training is not required.

The council chairman said: "You name it, pretty much everybody has chipped in and we have had some significant donations from individuals."

A demonstration evening is planned for the village hall within the next month. Details have yet to be confirmed and two devices will then be installed.

Parish councillor Carol Green helped organise a Christmas bingo at the village hall which raised £300.

She said: "We have got a very good reaction. This is the general feeling now, that we all need something like that. Every village ought to have one."

Brenda Louch, who runs Yarnton Lunch Club, raised £28 with a collection in December.

She said: "They are all quite elderly at the lunch club. We have had a couple of occasions when we have had to call the paramedics.

"They were all very pleased there will these facilities in the village."

The Gardening Club, which organises talks and outings, donated £100 and secretary Ann Moss said: "Most of us are pretty active because we garden but, even so, it is a good thing to have." Contact the council on 01865 378476.

* In July, South Central Ambulance Service divisional responder manager Dick Tracey appealed for help to boost defibrillator numbers from 120 to 320 by May next year.
* The Oxford Mail is backing his campaign so everyone in the county will be no further than 10 minutes away from the nearest device.
* Mr Tracey hopes to have all of them installed by the end of May and has seen a huge amount of interest from the community so far in completing this campaign.

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