CRICKET: Willoughby raise £3,000 for life-saving defibrillator

Willoughby Cricket Club will be ‘Emergency Ready’ when the new cricket season arrives next year thanks to the recent unveiling of a new defibrillator cabinet at the club.

Led by husband and wife team Mark and Becci Fell – the WCC’s Under 15s managers – the club raised just over £3,000 from a combination of a grant, donations and some fundraising events during the cricket season.

It now means an All Access External Defibrillator Cabinet defibrillator is now housed at the club not only for the cricket club and its visitors but also residents of Willoughby and the surrounding area too, to add to the one which is already in situ at the Village Hall.

In addition to donations from several village organisations, Willoughby Cricket Club players and parents pledged donations online to a JustGiving Page, plus the Under 15 team organised fundraising efforts which included participating in a Military Mud Run and running a Charity Car Wash.

The installation of the defibrillator at The Green also means Willoughby CC is now active on The Circuit, a new national defibrillator network where the West Midlands Ambulance Service are partnered with the British Heart Foundation.

The club would like to say thank you to the West Midlands Ambulance Service who donated a Defibrillator, with particular thanks to Linda Belgrove and Sue Waddington, the Willoughby and Leam Valley Community First Responders, for their help and advice and also delivering three training sessions on National Restart a Heart Day in October.