Member Article

Defibrillator success for Stokesley's Thirsty Thursday business network group.

Stokesley based business network Thirsty Thursday has raised over £4000 to install and maintain three defibrillators in Stokesley Business Park and Stokesley Town Centre.

Sue Thompson, Founder of Thirsty Thursday, has led the campaign and worked with Hambleton District Council’s Springboard Centre and the Terry Dicken Business Park to raise the money with local businesses to buy the life-saving machines.

In addition, thanks to a substantial donation from the Stokesley Agricultural Society, a third kit will now be installed close to Stokesley’s showground- home to the famous Stokesley Show which this year celebrated its 160th year.

Until now, the Business Park had to rely on the defibrillator installed on Stokesley High Street - over a mile away- which experts say is too far to have any positive impact on anyone who might fall ill at the business park.

Thirsty Thursday teamed up with Northallerton based charity Restarting Hearts to see what could be done to raise sufficient funds to add at least one defibrillator kit to the business park.

The campaign was helped by local businesses contributions as well as local charitable organisations such as The Jack Brunton Charitable Trust and Stokesley Rotary Club.

The first two defibrillators are now in place on the Business Park and are registered with the Yorkshire Ambulance Service which allow emergency services to share the location of the kits for potential use. The charity Restarting Hearts will continue to monitor and maintain the kits in the future to guarantee they are always in full working order.

The kits are fully automatic, but some basic training will be offered by Thirsty Thursday network to all businesses within the business park to make everyone aware of how easy they are to access and use if required.

The fundraising will continue to add more kits to hot spots within the business park and beyond to give everyone the best chance of survival.

Sue Thompson said:

“The fundraising will continue so we can try to fill any blank spots in the Stokesley area and encourage local businesses to get involved and understand how they can help support the campaign by donating and letting their employees benefit with access to the kits.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sue Thompson .