Local housing provider Orbit, has installed a new lifesaving defibrillator at its community hub in Gorleston-on-Sea.
The team at Orbit had identified that there was no defibrillator – an essential lifesaving tool for anyone in cardiac arrest - nearby to its new Better Days hub at Elmhurst Court, and so set about trying to secure one for the area. The team applied to The Department of Health and Social Care’s (DHSC) Community Automated External Defibrillators Fund, aimed at increasing the number of defibrillators in public places where they are most needed to help save lives.
Orbit was successfully awarded 50% of the cost which it matched to raise the total funding required and then worked with its repairs and maintenance contractor MPS Housing who installed the defibrillator for free.
The defibrillator has been installed on the outside of the Better Days hub on Amethyst Close where it is accessible to the public in the event someone nearby experiences a cardiac arrest. It has also been registered on The Circuit, the UK’s national defibrillator network so that the ambulance service can direct people to it in an emergency.
Louise Millington, Better Days Hub lead for Orbit commented: “We want to help create communities where people feel safe and supported. We're delighted that we have been able to secure this essential lifesaving equipment for the people in and around our Better Days hub which also offers a range of free services to support people’s health and wellbeing.”
The Better Days hub which was officially opened by the Mayor of Great Yarmouth in October last year, is located in the former scout hut recently refurbished by Orbit, where people can access free face to face support on a range of issues such as managing finances, health and wellbeing, employability and skills.
For more information about Orbit’s Better Days programme visit: www.orbitcustomerhub.org.uk/help-support/