Co-op and council link up to save lives in two villages

Tamworth Co-operative Society and Kingsbury Parish Council have linked up in a bid to  save lives in Kingsbury and Wood End. The move follows two Automated External Defibrillators being donated to the parish council by Heartbeat UK. The machines can make the difference between life and death for heart attack victims.

Tamworth Co-operative Society presentation

Pictured during the presentation of the two defibrillators are (from left to right) Emma Horsham manager of the Wood End Co-op convenience store, borough and parish councillor Margaret Moss, community defibrillator facilitator Stuart Grainger, county, borough and parish councillor Brian Moss, local resident and trained first-aider John Edge, Kingsbury convenience store manager Annette Brindley, Kingsbury Parish Council clerk Sue Humphries and Kingsbury Parish Council Chairman Cllr Katy Carr.

The AED machines, which cost around £2,000 each, are used to re-start people’s hearts in emergencies. They will initially be installed inside the Tamworth Co-op convenience stores in Kingsbury and Wood End.

The two machines were handed over to the managers of the two stores at a presentation at the Kingsbury Co-op convenience store. Training will be given to up to 12 people at each site by the West Midlands Ambulance Service. The AED units are extremely easy to operate and include pre-recorded instructions.

Convenience store managers Annette Brindley and Emma Horsham accepted the machines from Katy Carr, chairman of Kingsbury Parish Council and Stuart Grainger, community defibrillator facilitator for West Midlands Ambulance Service.

In the near future the defibrillators will be moved to special cabinets outside the two stores to allow people to access them 24 hours a day.
“We are extremely grateful to Heartbeat UK for this generous donation and also to the Tamworth Co-op for agreeing to have the machines in their Kingsbury and Wood End stores,” said Cllr Katy Carr.

“The parish council is also looking into the possibility of purchasing more of these units to be placed in different villages if suitable locations can be identified.”

Tamworth Co-op chief executive Julian Coles said the Society was delighted to house such vital equipment in two of its stores.

“These vital machines have turned two of our convenience stores into potentially life-saving locations and we are delighted to have provided a base for them in the heart of two local communities.”