ROTARIANS from across Tynedale took to the streets of Hexham on Saturday to collect donations towards our Heart of Gold appeal.

With the aim of making sure more Public Access Defibrillators are made available across the district, we launched the campaign in February in partnership with the Stephen Carey Fund.

And after 25 members from the Tynedale, Hexham and Hadrian Rotary Clubs shook buckets for hours on Fore Street and in Hexham Market Place, the appeal looks set to be boosted by a total of £370.

The figure is just under 20 per cent of the £2,000 each life-saving heart start machine and protective outdoor casing costs.

The volunteer Rotarians are the latest group to throw their weight behind our campaign, which has already been supported by fundraising from community groups, work places and youth organisations across Tynedale.

We’re hoping to raise around £10,000 to ensure at least five machines can be placed in the heart of communities across Tynedale.

After our fund reached the first £2,000, a defibrillator was presented to the village of Otterburn, where the death-defying teenager who inspired the campaign lives.

Footballer Adam Stephen suffered a sudden cardiac arrest while on the football pitch four months ago.

The off-duty medics who saved his life were able to do so with the help of a defibrillator.

The machines deliver a dose of electrical energy capable a restoring the heart’s natural rhythm.

Defibrillators designed for public access are automated, so they can be used without any training, and a stored in a locked external cabinet protected by an access code logged with the ambulance service.

In Corbridge, parish councillors have taken on the mantle and are fundraising independently for their own machine, and donations of £550 have already been collected thanks to the generosity of the village’s healthy walking group and branch of the Royal British Legion.

If you’d like to support the Heart of Gold campaign by pledging a pound to help start a heart, you can do so online at www.hexhamcourant.co.uk/heartofgold.

Donations can also be left at the Hexham Courant offices on Beaumont Street.