EVERYONE in Cotherstone is now within quick access of an emergency heart-start machine thanks to a collaboration of thoughtful residents, the village’s parish council and its two county councillors.
Initially there was only one centrally located defibrillator at the village hall, but thanks to a project started two years ago, two more have been installed – one at either end of the village.
The idea came about when resident Peter Kirkman had live band Another Crisis play at his birthday party. He said: “Everyone said can you get the band back again, so we did and put the money from that towards a defibrillator.”
Friend and parish councillor Robert Johnson then helped host an “auction of promises” to raise additional funds. He said: “One person offered three hours of cleaning service at home, and her husband bought it.”
The two events raised £2,020 and after pricing the cost of a defibrillator, realised they could afford one-and-a-half machines, but that included VAT.
They approached Cotherstone Parish Council to take on the project because it would be able to reclaim the VAT, which brought them closer to being able to buy a second machine.
Through Teesdale Action Partnership, the group was able to attract another £1,000 from the neighbourhood budgets of county councillors Richard Bell and Ted Henderson.
Thanks to landlady Nichola Swinbank, one has been sited at the Fox and Hounds pub to provide cover for the west end of the village, and the other on a residential home covering the east end.
