Welfare
St Faith's Centre
Following the completion of the new St Faith's Community Centre in Ringlestone, we were approached to provide a defibrillator. We were happy to to fund one, and were pleasantly surprised for it to be further subsidised by a money from DHSC. The defibrillator has been added to "The Circuit" which is the National database for Public Access defibrillators, this ensures that when somebody calls for an ambulance they can be given the details of the nearest Public Access defibrillator allowing life-saving treatment to be given whilst waiting for the emergency services to arrive. Pictured below Marion Brooks, President of Maidstone Lions, Derek Ransley, immediate past President and Rev. Canon, Arthur Houston of St Faith's.
Defibrillator Projects
In January 2022, the club embarked on a project to try and ensure that every school in Maidstone had at least one defibrillator. The presentation of a defibrillator to Palace Wood Primary School was the 19th defibrillator and, marked the end of our project.
It is a sad fact that every week in the UK, 12 young people under the age of 35 die from Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome (SADS) with many of these deaths taking place in a school setting.
The use of a defibrillator significantly improves the chance of survival, in fact use of a defibrillator within one minute of a Cardiac Arrest improves the chance of survival by 90%, with the chances of survival decreasing by 10% with every minute that passes.
Defibrillator for Howard de Walden Centre
December 2022
Phase one of the project, to ensure that all schools within Maidstone Borough have a defibrillator, has been reached with the presentation of a defibrillator to Tiger Primary School, and the presentation of a defibrillator to Cornwallis Academy marked the start of phase two.
Phase two is to provide additional defibrillators to where the size of the school means that additional devices are required to ensure that treatment can be provided within the golden 10 minute period.
Maidstone YMCA
We're looking to set up a weekly indoor Disability Football session, and required some indoor goals to get started, they made a grant application to the club for the required funding. The club were impressed by their application and their desire to add football to the activities that they offer for the disabled. The goals were presented to the YMCA shortly before Christmas.
Abigails Footsteps
The Club were approached by Abigails Footsteps, a charity that provides support and counselling for bereaved parents and families, as well as specialist bereavement training for midwives and healthcare professionals, to provide an Abi Cot for the Hope Butler Suite at Pembury Hospital. The cots are specially designed with a refrigerated system that allows parents to spend more time with their deceased baby than would otherwise be possible, helping them through the grieving process.
Marion Brooks, President of Maidstone Lions Club said "We are very happy to donate an Abi Cooling Cot to the bereavement suite at Pembury Hospital. It was an honour to make a small contribution towards helping local families at what must be the most tragic times."
Marion and Peter Hooper met Harriet Whyatt, Specialist Bereavement Midwife at Pembury Hospital and saw where the cot would be used to help families bereaved by the loss of a baby.
Harriet said, "Thank you to Abigail's Footsteps and Maidstone Lions for the donation of our new Abi cot – the time a family spends with their baby when they have died is so limited and precious. This cot will help make treasured memories for parents who have to go through the most devastating experience anyone could imagine'
