Leon’s Legacy helping to save lives in the community

Sutton school Leamington Primary and Nursery Academy is the latest place to benefit from the hard work of local charity Leon’s Legacy, and have their defibrillator installed in an outdoor cabinet that will be accessible to the entire community.

Leon’s Legacy started as one woman’s passion project to install a defibrillator at Annesley Primary and Nursery School, and has since snowballed into a wide-reaching charity that has provided 42 schools with defibrillators, and given CPR training to almost 2000 teachers and children.

Leon was working as a lunchtime supervisor at the school in Annesley woodhouse when he sadly collapsed and died in January 2019, aged only 52.

Holly Younger, Leon’s daughter and cardiac nurse, has since made it her personal mission to improve the chances of anyone who finds themselves in the same situation.

Two years ago, Leamington Primary School was one of the first provided with a defibrillator by Leon’s Legacy, and immediately expressed their interest in making the defibrillator accessible to everyone.

Chairwoman Mrs Younger said “We were recently lucky enough to be awarded a grant by the National Lottery Fund, and decided the best way to use this money was to make our defibrillators in schools accessible to their local communities”

“We’ve put the money to great use, and want to say a huge thank you to the National Lottery fund. We’ve been able to provide Leamington Primary School with an outdoor cabinet for their defibrillator, which now sits on the wall outside the school.”

“A local electrician, who wanted to remain anonymous, has been kind enough to install this for us free of charge! We’ve also now registered the defibrillator with the defib database, which means the ambulance service and 999 operators will know where it is, and what the code is to access the cabinet, meaning it can be accessed 24/7.”

This is the second defibrillator the charity has placed outside of a school, and they are now making it their goal to put all of the defibs they supply in the same situation.

“We hope that alongside the government's new scheme to supply schools with defibrillators, we can make this crucial and lifesaving equipment available to everyone in the community, no matter where or when an emergency occurs.”

If you would like to contact Leon’s Legacy for help or advice related to a defibrillator in your community, or to make a donation to a worthy cause, you can find them on all forms of social media, at their website www.leonslegacy.co.uk, or via email at [email protected].