Building society funds to help charity set up in memory of Annesley School man

The charity was set up by Holly Younger in 2019 in memory of her father Leon Smith, who suffered a fatal cardiac arrest while working as a lunchtime supervisor at Annesley Primary and Nursery School.

The charity has now provided 58 schools in the surrounding area with defibrillators, as well as equipping staff with the knowledge they need to use the devices correctly.

Holly, the charity’s chairman and a qualified cardiac nurse, said: “My dad suffered a cardiac arrest at work and, while we have no idea if things would have been different if they had had a defibrillator on site, we felt it would improve chances for others.

“We started fundraising to put a defibrillator in the school he worked at, but ended up with more money than we needed and that’s when we decided to keep going and help equip as many schools as we could.”

Vickie Preston, Mansfield Building Society head of human resources, said: “The legacy the charity is creating is boundless.

“March saw Holly provide the charity’s 56th defibrillator, which meant all schools in Kirkby now have one.

“Leon’s Legacy now has its sights firmly set on doing the same in Sutton and we are thrilled to support the charity’s amazing work through the society’s community support scheme.”

To donate to Leon’s Legacy, see justgiving.com/leonslegacynotts