Scotton villagers and regulars at the village pub have raised the funds to provide an automated external defibrillator for the community with help from rural pubs supporter, Pub is The Hub.
Locals at The Guy Fawkes Arms at Scotton near Harrogate raised nearly £2,000 in less than three months in a fundraising effort led by one of the pub’s regular customers to provide the piece of life-saving equipment. The defibrillator is situated on an exterior wall at the rear of the pub so that any villager can access it in an emergency.
Licensee, Lisa Walker is an ex-coronary nurse so understands how valuable the equipment can be when time is of the essence and said: “We are about 15 minutes away from Harrogate for the ambulance and by the time it arrives in the village it could be too late to save anyone who is having heart problems. This device is absolutely fool-proof and can be the difference between life and death. When anyone dials 999 from this area they will be given the key code for the equipment and directed to come and retrieve it from the pub.”
“The idea came about from one of our regulars who wishes to remain anonymous. They have helped to raise the money by asking for donations from villagers and we have had a collection jar on the bar. It’s incredible how quickly the money was raised and we are enormously grateful to Pub is The Hub for adding £100 to the collection from their Community Service Fund.”
Staff at the pub had training from the Yorkshire Ambulance Service who have provided the defibrillator.
Lisa and her husband Peter Walker run the pub in partnership with Louise and Martin Peachy and they took over the free house in August 2013, re-opening the pub in October 2013. Lisa added: “We were determined to retain the character of the place as a locals pub as well as attracting new customers and have not looked back since.”
Pub is The Hub Advisor for Yorkshire, Trisha Hughes said: “When Lisa approached us for support we were delighted to help. They are keen to highlight that this equipment belongs to the village and not the pub providing an essential service for the community.”