HAYDON Bridge now has a third defibrillator following an impressive community fund-raising effort.

The lifesaving device has been installed at the Haydonian Social Club on Shaftoe Street.

The village also has defibrillators at the community centre and the football pitch, but teacher Paul Carruthers felt that more cover was needed.

Paul, whose dad Jim is the chairman of the club, explained that the existing defibrillators were too far away if there was an emergency near the club or the school.

“We’re really fortunate,” said Paul. “We’ve got three defibrillators in the village now.

“Getting a defibrillator installed came from my awareness from being around school children all the time, and how important it is to save lives.”

“We started fund-raising back in September, a lot of local businesses donated raffle prizes and that raffle raised £700.

“Then we got donations from local groups like the football club, the bowls club, and the Tynedale Lions.”

The defibrillator was purchased from the North East Ambulance Service for £1,500, which also provided a free training session for the village.

The club also paid for two more sessions, meaning 36 people will be trained to use the device. And Paul intends to run further training sessions annually, meaning the fund-raising won’t stop there.

Paul continued: “The feedback has been great. What we’ll try to do is do annual courses. We’re not finishing the fund-raising. It’s been a really good community effort.

“Hopefully it never gets used, but if it does I hope it saves a life. If it saves one life it’s all worth it. I want to say a big thank you to all the people who supported it.”