Life saving defibrillator donated to Orchard Community Centre in Biggleswade by housebuilder

A life saving public access defibrilator has been donated to a Biggleswade community centre.

Taylor Wimpey South Midlands donated the defibrillator (PAD) to the Orchard Community Centre in Biggleswade, which will benefit the community and surrounding local area.

As part of a joint initiative with the British Heart Foundation (BHF), the homebuilder is donating potentially life-saving PAD’s to communities around the UK to help people who suffer from an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

During 2019, the BHF worked with Taylor Wimpey to train its employees in CPR skills and provide every one of their building sites in the UK with a defibrillator. As part of its commitment to leaving a lasting legacy in and around the areas in which it builds, Taylor Wimpey is donating the defibrillators to communities when their developments are completed.

Taylor Wimpey worked closely with Biggleswade Town Council on the donation to ensure that it was donated to an easily accessible location within the community. As a result, the Orchard Community Centre was chosen as the recipient of the defibrillator, which will now be installed for the community to utilise if and when needed. Receiving the donation on behalf of the centre was Isaac Lord from Biggleswade Town Council and Andrew King and Tracy Hilton who are Caretakers at the Community Centre.

Taylor Wimpey has also committed to ensuring all of its defibrillators are registered on The Circuit – the national defibrillator network which connects defibrillators to NHS ambulance services across the UK, so that in those crucial moments after a cardiac arrest they can be accessed quickly to help save lives.

Fiona Lloyd, Sales and Marketing Director for Taylor Wimpey South Midlands, said: “It’s so important to us that we give something back to the communities in which we build. Our partnership with the BHF is vitally important in helping to ensure that more defibrillators are available for people who might need them and we are proud to be able to make this equipment readily accessible in Biggleswade.”

Sarah Forsey, Survival Manager at the British Heart Foundation, said: “More than 30,000 people suffer a cardiac arrest outside of hospital every year but less than one in ten survive. More people could be saved if everyone felt confident performing CPR and using a public access defibrillator. We are delighted that Taylor Wimpey has contributed to the aims of the BHF by making a public access defibrillator available at Orchard Community Centre. It could really make the difference between life and death.”

For more information on CPR, defibrillators and out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, or how you can help BHF create a Nation of Lifesavers, visit the website.