The Scottish Football Partnership Trust (SFPT) has teamed up once again with The Kilpatrick Fraser Charitable Trust (KFCT) to put together a new 2022 funding strand which will see another 20 community football clubs/organisations provided with a lifesaving defibrillator. Over the last few years, 48 devices have already been awarded to clubs/organisations and this new funding will see that total rise to 68.
In 2015, Parliament passed the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 giving more rights to community bodies to take over land and buildings in public ownership through asset transfer. Since then, many grassroots community football clubs and organisations across all parts of Scotland have benefitted from these new rights and have been able to take over football pitches and pavilions via Community Asset Transfer. Essentially these football clubs have evolved into becoming community service and facility providers and in recognition of this, the SFPT and the KFCT were keen to assist safeguard the health and wellbeing of players, coaches, parents, grandparents and other members of the wider community who attend these facilities on a weekly basis.
Central Park Community Trust received a defibrillator to help safeguard the wellbeing of the hundreds of weekly participants at Central Park in Cowdenbeath. The equipment was recently handed over to David Allan from the Trust who said “We are enormously grateful to the SFP Trust and the KFCT for supporting Cowden in the Community via the provision of this equipment to the Central Park Community Trust in respect of its activities at Central Park. The defibrillator will be located at the entrance to the main building and will be readily accessible at any event. Thus anyone attending football at Central Park as well as our friends at the Racewall will also have the benefit of this lifesaving piece of equipment being available.”
David added, “I would also like to extend a very personal thanks to the SFPT and KFCT as this gift has a very personal significance for me. Back in 2014, out of the blue I suffered a sudden cardiac arrest in Dobbies Garden Centre in Dunfermline. An unknown Good Samaritan gave me CPR. Then the paramedics arrived and used a defibrillator to restore my heartbeat and save my life. I woke up in hospital a couple of days later oblivious to all that drama after having had heart stents put in. Around a fortnight later I was at East End Park to see Cowden defeat Dunfermline in the play offs at East End Park. Since then, because of that Good Samaritan, the medics and crucially a defibrillator, I have been able to enjoy such occasions as the weddings of my sons, the birth of my grandchildren and indeed life itself. My Ruby Wedding and my mother’s 90th birthday are due shortly – so I count my blessings every day and give thanks for the gift of life that this equipment helped provide.”
British Heart Foundation – Why defibrillators for your community are important
“Communities can play a big part in creating a nation of life savers. Having a defibrillator in your community and training people in CPR means that more people will know what to do when someone has a cardiac arrest.”
Does my community need a defibrillator?
“Yes, your community needs a defibrillator. For every minute someone is in cardiac arrest without CPR and access to a defibrillator, their chance of survival drops by up to 10%.
Having access to a defibrillator in an emergency can be lifesaving, especially in rural areas where ambulance response times may be longer.”
What are the benefits of having a defibrillator in my community?
“Less than 1 in 10 people in the UK survive an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. This has been partly attributed to two factors that communities can change:
- There aren’t enough people prepared to perform CPR when someone has a cardiac arrest
- There aren’t enough defibrillators
By having a defibrillator in your community and by training people in CPR, you can play an important part in saving more lives.”
*Since 2012, The Scottish Football Partnership and Trust has invested over £200,000 in upskilling around 2,250 coach volunteers in Sports First Aid in conjunction with the Hampden Sports Clinic.