Since 2014, British Heart Foundation (BHF) has part-funded thousands of defibrillators in communities across the UK. However, many community groups could not commit to ongoing costs. The Circuit data has highlighted that areas in Great Britian with multiple socioeconomic deprivation are at a greater risk of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCAs) and less likely to have access to a public access defibrillator (PAD).
The BHF has introduced the Community Defibrillator Funding Programme which is focused on improving equity in defibrillator for communities most in need to and give more people a better chance of surviving an OHCA.
The programme is now open to applicants from across the UK and aims to remove further barriers to community groups. This includes:
- The defibrillator
- An unlocked cabinet
- Installation where required
- Replacement pads and batteries for 10 years
- Materials to promote RevivR, our free online CPR training, to local communities
The BHF is particularly eager to receive applications from community groups in 10 areas across the UK. These areas have no defibrillator registered on The Circuit within them, based on available data on defibrillator locations from The Circuit - the national defibrillator network.
These areas include:
- Small Heath, an inner-city area in Birmingham (England)
- North Wensley Fold, an area in Blackburn (England)
- Moss Side, an inner-city area in Manchester (England)
- Knowle, a district in Bristol (England)
- Caia Park, a suburb in Wrexham (Wales)
- Caerau, a community in Cardiff (Wales)
- Udston, Hamilton (Scotland)
- Govanhill, an area of Glasgow (Scotland)
- Newhill, an area in Ballymoney, Country Antrim (Northern Ireland)
- Ardoyne, a district in Belfast (Northern Ireland)
There is an online application form