Update 10 October

People have been really generous gving huge amounts of money and we‘ve been able to raise the money for a new defibrillator in just three weeks.

I’m extending my target to £2,500 and with the extra thousand pounds I hope that we will be able to get our old defibrillator which is broken due to getting wet may be able to be refurbished and installed at the rugby training ground on Whitechapel Road near Scholes. It will be available for use to the local community as well as to members of our club, a local football club and the school. We’ll need a cabinet as well but I hope that we’ll be able to raise enough for the refurbishment and the cabinet.

To show how important this is, I’m not drinking for the month of October. It’s not easy as I do like a pint but it’s a very good cause!

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Hello, I‘m Matthew, and I’m stopping drinking for October in order to raise money for a defibrillator for Cleckheaton Sports Club. This is a matter close to my heart as a number of relatives and friends have suffered and died due to heart problems. Recent tragedies such as the death of RL player, Danny Jones, and the cardiac arrest of footballer, Fabrice Muamba, have raised awareness of heart problems in sports players but with players from 4 to 92, Cleckheaton Sports Club is aware that a defibrillator can save lives at any age.

If you know me, you will be aware that I like a drink and stopping for a month will be a challenge but it will be worthwhile. The Sports Club did have a defibrillator but it’s a few years old now and no longer fit for purpose and so needs to be replaced. It had been used many times and has saved at least one person’s life.

The new defibrillator will be added to the Yorkshire Ambulance Service database of defibrillators and so may save the lives of many people in the Spen Valley area not just at Cleckheaton Sports Club.