The residents of Smalley Court, Burntwood, along with the staff and patrons of The Trident Pub, also in Burntwood, would like to raise money to install a defibrillator on the front of Smalley Court, facing Chase Road.

This defibrillator would not only be there for the residents of Smalley Court, but it would also be available to anyone in the local vicinity should they be in the unfortunate position to need it.

Currently, the nearest defibrillator is located at Ridgeway Primary School, which is only a 2 minute drive away, but is a minimum 9 minute walk away. Bearing in mind that a lot of the local community don't drive and many are elderly, this walk time is greatly increased.

There are approximately 60,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests a year within the UK, but the survival rate is currently low, with only 10% of victims surviving. Yet, research has shown that deploying a defibrillator within 3–5 minutes of collapse can produce survival rates as high as 50–70%. It goes without saying that a defibrillator in this area of our community has a huge chance of saving lives.

I have been contacted by Burntwood Town Council who have very kindly said that if we are able to raise the money to purchase the defibrillator and cabinet, they will take care of the installation and ongoing maintenance.

Our initial plan is to raise enough money for one defibrillator and cabinet, which we will put on the front of Smalley Court. If our campaign is successful we would like to continue to raise money for a second defibrillator which will go on the front of The Trident, meaning that there will be even greater access to these life saving devices to a larger part of Chase Road.

Any help you can offer us is greatly appreciated, not only by us, but by the whole community they will be helping.