Tag: life saving charity

Local Tesco Express raises more than £2,100 for local CPR charity

  • St John Scotland has received more than £2,100 from Tesco Haymarket Express
  • The total is the highest raised in Edinburgh from a single business collection box
  • Funds will help St John Scotland volunteers continue delivering life-saving support across Edinburgh

A local Tesco Express store in Edinburgh has raised more than £2,100 for a local charity that helps save lives through CPR training, Public Access Defibrillators (PADs) and volunteer-led community support.

Tesco Haymarket Express has raised £2,186.42 for St John Scotland through an in-store collection box, with customers and colleagues contributing to the total since the fundraiser was launched in April 2020.

The store is located just 15 minutes from St John Scotland’s headquarters on St John Street, making the fundraiser a real show of local support for the charity.

Formed in 1947, St John Scotland is made up of dedicated volunteers who help build safer, stronger and more resilient communities across Scotland. Its work includes providing CPR training, improving the availability of PADs, transporting patients to hospital, and supplying kits for Community First Responders.

The money raised by Tesco Haymarket Express will go towards the charity’s ongoing work in Edinburgh, helping volunteers continue their efforts to improve cardiac arrest survival rates and make communities across the city safer.

Alan Roy, Store Manager at Tesco Haymarket Express, said: “I was shocked to learn that every week in Scotland, around 70 people suffer a cardiac arrest, so the work St John Scotland volunteers are doing to improve survival rates is invaluable.

“We’re proud to support such an important local charity and grateful to every customer and colleague who has contributed to the collection box over the years.”

John Craig, St John Scotland’s Edinburgh Chair, recently visited the Tesco Haymarket Express team to thank them for their fundraising efforts and share how the money raised is helping the charity’s volunteers continue their work.

John said: “The team at Tesco Haymarket Express has been fantastic in supporting our mission to save lives in Scotland through CPR.

“We are incredibly grateful for their ongoing support and for the generosity shown by customers and colleagues in store. This donation will help us continue delivering vital support in communities across Edinburgh.”

Alan added: “It was great to welcome John to the store and hear more about how the funds raised are helping St John Scotland volunteers continue their important work.

“We were also delighted to learn that our collection box has raised the highest amount in Edinburgh from a single business. It is a real testament to the generosity of our customers and colleagues.”

Claire de Silva, Head of Community at Tesco, said: “We are proud to support such a worthwhile cause in St John Scotland.

“Tesco is committed to supporting local communities and charities across Scotland, and fundraising initiatives like this help create a lasting positive impact for residents.”

More information about St John Scotland, including how to become a volunteer, is available at https://www.stjohnscotland.org.uk/.

Cardiac arrest survivor shares his story at Holyrood reception for St Andrew’s First Aid

Last week, cardiac arrest survivor John McCann, 62, whose life was saved by a first aid trained First Bus driver, shared his experiences with party leaders, ministers and MSPs at a parliamentary reception on behalf of St Andrew’s First Aid, Scotland’s only dedicated first aid charity. 

John, who lives in the West End of Glasgow, spoke of the great importance of first aid and emphasised the vital need to ensure more people are equipped with the knowledge and confidence to intervene in any emergency. He underlined how his life – and ability to tell his story at the event – was entirely down to the actions of one man.

The reception was attended by Scottish Labour Leader Anas Sarwar, Minister for Public Health, Woman’s Health and Sport, Maree Todd and Collette Stevenson as sponsoring MSP, amongst others.

The event was held to mark the 140th anniversary of the charity and provided an opportunity for political and wider stakeholders to find out more about St Andrew’s First Aid’s mission to transform Scotland into a nation of live savers by providing vital first aid training to everyone. 

The reception also included a speech from Molly Jansen, 17, a St Andrew’s First Aid volunteer. Molly spoke about the valuable experiences of being a volunteer and the importance of St. Andrew’s First Aid’s school projects such as the Ready for Life programme which teaches a certificated emergency and mental health first aid course to secondary school pupils.

Stuart Callison, Chief executive at St Andrew’s First Aid said: “We’re delighted that the vital work being completed at St. Andrew’s First Aid is being recognised and celebrated.

“We are very grateful to everyone who attended our event and helped us to celebrate these 140 years of providing essential first aid training and support to Scotland.

“As Scotland’s only dedicated first aid charity, we have a responsibility to train as many people in lifesaving skills and raise awareness of the important campaigns and initiatives we have in place to achieve this.”