Christchurch nursery installs community defibrillator

King’s Castle Montessori Day Nursery, in Saxonbury Road, raised the money before Christmas, and the defibrillator was installed in March.

The nursery manager, Mandy Preston, said the nursery community tries to do as much fundraising as it can through the year, and decided to fundraise for something to help the community.

“We’ve tried to do lots of things to raise some money to get a defibrillator,” Ms Preston said.

“We sold cakes, we did Christmas photographs of the children – our own photographs and we mounted them and sold them to parents for about £5 a picture.

“We put some little notes through neighbours’ doors asking if they’d like to support us with it. We had a few neighbours come and say, ‘here’s £10 towards it’, which is really nice.

“Really, it’s our way of giving something back to the community and doing something really good.”

The nursery have had a strong response from the local community.

“One of the neighbours came round and said I’m so happy you’re doing this, because I had a heart attack and someone used a defibrillator on me and I wouldn’t be here now if they hadn’t, and so that was really lovely," Ms Preston said.

“It’s making people aware in the community that we have a defibrillator, if that awful situation happens.”

The defibrillator has come from charity London Hearts, which supplies defibrillators to sites across the country. The nursery managed to secure a small grant from the charity which contributed to the overall cost.

“We raised just under £1,000, and then the nursery has put the rest of the money towards it. We got a little bit of a grant which came off of it, because I think it’s just under £2000 to buy.

“I think all in all it’s been about £1,400 to £1,500 altogether to buy.

“We’re glad we got it.”

The defibrillator has been installed outside the nursery reception, so if it is needed, it is readily accessible for use.

Ms Preston added: “It’s really exciting.”