(Left to right: Adrian Brading, Landlord of The New Inn Hounsdown, Councillor Neville Penman and Tanya Harder, Community Fundraising and Marketing Manager at Heartbeat)
The New Inn pub has raised £1,500 to fund a defibrillator for the community after the owner’s father died from a heart attack.
The traditional pub in Totton, owned by Adrian Brading, now has a defibrillator installed after a fundraising campaign to buy the life-saving equipment was launched in memory of his father.
Adrian said: “When I started looking into getting a defibrillator, there was a national campaign promoting heart health awareness. It feels as though there isn’t as much profile about the importance of keeping your heart healthy as there is around some other diseases. For instance, there is more knowledge and understanding about cancer, but very few people realise how quickly an unhealthy heart can deteriorate and, in some cases, how it can be fatal.”
Adrian soon got many of the pub’s locals involved with fundraising.
Barmaid Sarah Robinson arranged an event to start raising the money required. Sarah booked a band, with the cost being covered by a local sponsor, and she arranged to have a BBQ in the pub garden.
Adrian continued: “The best part was seeing everyone come together. One pub regular cut all his shoulder-length hair off which raised an amazing £600. Incredible!”.
The defibrillator has now been installed and placed on the wall outside of the pub, so it’s accessible to all the community.
New Forest District Councillor Neville Penman, who attended the unveiling of the defibrillator, mentioned: “I’ve been asked by a number of residents if we could get more defibrillators installed in the area. There is one already, but it’s inside the community centre, which is locked daily at 4pm and not accessible 24 hours a day, which isn’t very helpful in the event of an emergency. The pub has had its defibrillator installed outside, so it is easily accessible for those in need.”
Raising awareness surrounding heart health is cardiac charity, Heartbeat. Community Fundraising and Marketing Manager Tanya Harder came across the fundraiser on Facebook and reached out. Tanya commented: “Here at Heartbeat, we support patients who have a heart condition by helping to fundraise against pioneering projects to help improve heart health. This support extends to their families as well as some travel from a far.”
A key area for Tanya within her role is to help raise awareness, and supporting the community with their efforts to help save lives.
“We couldn’t be more proud to have helped the New Inn community with their efforts and to be able to present them with their defibrillator. What some people might not realise is the speed with which an unhealthy heart could prove fatal, and here at Heartbeat, we’re always here to try to educate people on this.” Tanya continued.
The defibrillator comes with training and a guide manual as to how to use it. If you’d like to learn more or access defibrillator training, please visit www.heartbeat.co.uk.