THE Cheney Manor community has celebrated the installation of a life-saving defibrillator to its community centre. 

Chair of the Des Moffatt Western Community Centre, Glinn Hambidge, lost his mother in 2020 following a cardiac arrest at her home, despite his father administering CPR until emergency services arrived. 

"My mum lived 200 yards from a community centre, if there would have been a defibrillator used then her chances of survival would have risen from 10 per cent to 65-70 per cent," he said. 

Spurred on by his mother's death, Glinn set up a GoFundMe page in her name to raise money for a defibrillator to be installed at the Western Community Centre.

And it didn't take too long for the funds to be provided as Shiela Harrod, of Kentwood Choir, pledged to donate the full amount when she learned of the fundraising, and the defib was ordered. 

An event was held at the community centre on April 14 to unveil the new piece of kit, and to thank Kentwood Choir for their kind gesture, with locals gathering for a special coffee morning and to hear a few songs. 

The cabinet now sits on the wall outside the community centre, along with a small plaque explaining how it got there and paying tribute to Glinn's late mother Shlin Sandell. 

The plaque board was donated by Orchard Press and the equipment was installed by Nigel Whelan, the director of local contractors Affleck Group. 

But while it was a great day, Glinn feels that more should be done to save people from cardiac arrest.

"The defibrillator is in a locked cabinet that 999 call handlers will have the code to in an emergency so if someone within the centre or the community suffer a cardiac arrest it is there.

"However it is my firm belief that this should be the standard for all our community centres across Swindon and across the country so I want to raise awareness as much as possible in the hope our council and our parish council sit up listen and action

"In addition to this, we want to set up a campaign in Swindon to get people trained to do CPR training and use an AED (Defibrillator)."

Glinn is also planning to set up a website that anyone can go on and learn how to use a defibrillator.