A Watford charity has donated its 93rd defibrillator to a pub in Abbots Langley.
Wayne’s Fund Charity has given the life-saving device to The Unicorn pub in memory of Wayne Pope, who died of heart issues 18 years ago.
Glynn Pope and his family set up the charity to honour his brother who passed away 10 days after his 30th birthday of sudden arrhythmic death.
The charity focuses on raising money to supply local schools, community hubs and pubs with defibrillators.
Charity founder Glynn Pope said: “We chose to donate one to The Unicorn because my family all live in Abbots Langley, and we decided that the pub was the best place for a defib as it is always busy and a great community hub.”
Glynn, who is Wayne’s brother, set up the charity after doing a sponsored cycle with other family members a year after Wayne’s death and raising more money than expected.
The 43-year-old from Abbots Langley added: “We are very proud to have a defibrillator in a local pub, it could help save someone’s life.
“I hope we are making Wayne proud with everything we are doing in his honour.”
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The charity’s defibrillators have already helped save the lives of two people, including a four-year-old whose heart stopped whilst at school.
The Unicorn pub in Gallows Hill has regular live music events which tend to be well attended, Glynn said, so the charity is “glad to have a defibrillator in such a well-loved place in the community.”
Wayne’s Fund Charity holds regular events to raise money to put defibrillators in the local community, including countryside walks, BBQs, sponsored bike rides and raffles.
Glynn said: “We hope to have even more defibrillators across Watford and Kings Langley as we are hoping to get to the goal of 100 soon. We only started with the intention of raising money for one or two but now many years on we have donated so many to the community.”
To find out more about the charity you can look on their Facebook page, Wayne’s Fund Charity here.
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