Lifesaving defibrillator installed at Falkirk district nursery with a little help from brewery

Heineken have donated a brand new, unused defibrillator to Cherry Tree Nursery in Polmont after seeing a fundraising appeal set up by one of their employees.

Gemma and Ross Kennedy, who live in Maddiston, started an online fundraiser earlier this year to raise cash to pay for a defibrillator at the nursery, which their 17 month old daughter Mia attends.

Gemma said: “I decided to start the go-fund me page because my niece’s nursery had a very scary incident where a little girl needed a defib.

"The staff called 999 and were told to get to the nearest public one ASAP while they waited on an ambulance.

"When the staff member arrived there it wasn’t in a building that was available to the public 24/7.

"As a parent, hearing about this put the fear of God into me. So I reached out to Cherry Tree to firstly see if they had one and then secondly if they would be willing to do some fundraising for one.”

Gemma, 31, took on the fundraising task and set up the online page. Within days the page had raised half of the target.

She continued: “I started the go fund me page and sent it to every man and dog I know. I’ve also been organising an Easter raffle to help raise funds.

"As parents our daughter is the most precious thing on the planet to us and we’d do anything to try and protect her. Unfortunately these defibs are having to be used more and more. The cost implications are just too high for private nurseries to pay for on their own so I wanted to help.

"I work for Heineken and we recently stopped production at Caledonian brewery. I received an email from the site manager after he saw posts about the fundraising page offering to donate their brand new, unused defib to the nursery.

“We were so grateful for the defib and the owner of Buildvale also took the time to come and fit the lock box with the defib onto the wall in the nursery free of charge.

"We were all overwhelmed at how quickly we managed to raise half the money. It was amazing to see the support for something so important."

Despite now having a defibrillator in place and over £800 being raised for the nursery’s defib, that money that has been raised is being put to good use. It has been used for paediatric pads and staff training, and will be used to help with maintenance of the machine.

Cheryl Connell, manager of Cherry Tree Nursery said: “It’s amazing to have this. We obviously do first aid training and we have looked at where our nearest defib would be should we ever need it. Having it on the premises gives you that peace of mind that in an emergency it’s there.”

Gemma added: “It’s really been a case of everyone coming together. We’d like to thank the local businesses for their support with raffle prizes and all those who have donated.”