Hartlepool defibrillator charity founded out of heartbreak secures £20,000 National Lottery funding to improve coverage

Community defibrillator group DS43, named after popular town cricketer Danny Shurmer who died aged just 43 in June 2021 from a cardiac arrest, has scooped £20,000 from the National Lottery’s Community Fund.

And a phenomenally successful Christmas raffle organised by Danny’s parents Bill and Pam Shurmer and drawn by champion boxer Savannah Marshall raised over £6,000.

The money will help to install 14 new defibrillators on mini lampposts in areas of the town where there isn’t a suitable public building on which to put them.

It will take the number of the machines installed by the charity from 55 currently to 69.

"We want to ensure anyone who suffers a cardiac arrest, no matter where they are in our town has access to a defibrillator,” said Pam and Bill.

It will mean the charity is well on its way to achieving its goal of ensuring everyone is within 350 metres of a public defibrillator in an emergency.

But the work does not stop as Pam added: “The town continues to expand so the requirements for defibrillators will increase.”

DS43's defibrillators have been requested for potential use 600 times by the ambulance service.

And Bill and Pam know they have saved at least one person’s life.

In 2024, the charity will continue its drive to raise awareness of both CPR and how to use defibrillators which requires continued fundraising.

Pam and Bill added: “It has been down to the wonderful people of Hartlepool who have embraced what we are doing.

"We thank each and every one for their continued support, without them this couldn’t have been possible, the town should be proud of their achievements.”

They also thanked the charity’s four other “vital" trustees and small army of volunteer guardians who check regularly on each defibrillators’ readiness.

DS43 was able to buy the 14 new defibrillators at half the usual £1,500 per unit thanks to match funding from the Department of Health and Social Care.

But installing them on lampposts incurs an additional cost of around £1,000 for each one.

The charity also ring fences money to cover 10 years’ maintenance costs including new batteries and replacement pads.

Learn more at its new website www.ds43communitydefirbrillators.org.uk