Sandown & Lake Football Club have installed a much-needed defibrillator for use by the local community at their Fairway ground.
The funds for the defibrillator were raised by a charity football match, collecting tins in local businesses and thanks to a grant from Lake Parish Council.
Jacqui Middlemiss, Club Secretary for Sandown and Lake FC, tells the story:
“Last August, after doing his FA first aid course, one of our managers, Steve Hobday, who runs our U12 Sharks team, suggested we should invest in a defibrillator for the football club and the local community.
“Steve Read from I.O.W. Defibrillators was eager to help us with this challenge and put collecting tins in some local businesses; we also had a tin in our hut. In our first month, we had a great response.
“Our chairman Richard Murthwaite then had the idea of organising a charity football match with our managers. With the help of Steven Chapman from the fire service and a small group of our committee, we successfully held our charity match. The event was a huge success and supported very well by the local community; we raised an amazing £920. We had now raised enough to purchase our defibrillator; the next challenge was ensuring it was kept safe and avoiding being vandalised.
“There had previously been a spate of vandalism in the Fairway ground with small fires being made and glass bottles and rubbish thrown about. We took our concerns to Lake Parish Council; they were amazed we had raised the money for the defibrillator so quickly and understood this could have a huge impact on the whole community. They agreed to give us a £1,000 grant for CCTV and installation.
Article continues below this advertisement “One of our Junior coaches, Trevor Payne, who owns Total Protection Fire and Security, very kindly installed our Defibrillator. So, in 6 months an idea became a reality.
“We would like to take this opportunity to thank Steve Read, the Isle of Wight Fire Brigade, Lake Parish Council, Trevor Payne, and all our managers, coaches, parents and our local community in supporting us and putting this extremely important device at our football club.”
