Youngsters and football coaches have helped get a life saving piece of equipment put out at a junction notorious for its traffic accidents. The external defibrillator has been mounted on the outside wall of the Pineapple Pub on Blackburn Road in Astley Bridge in case people need emergency cardiac care. The funds needed to install the machine were raised by youth mental health and wellbeing charity Peniks Division and Astley Bridge Junior Football Club.
Coach Hughie Benson said: “We fundraised for a year to raise enough money for the defib and cabinet. “It was all done through fundraising by the staff and kids. Fundraisers worked hard to make the machine a reality (Image: Kenland Media Relations) “No big sponsor or help; they’ve done it all by themselves.
” The campaign involved a charity football match, a sponsored CPR event and sponsored walks led by some of the older club members. The scheme honours the memory of a man who died at the location of Blackburn Road last year which Mr Benson, a former Regimental Sergeant Major, desperately tried to respond to. It also commemorates the life of a friend of the football club and the wider Astley Bridge community who died in 2018.
Both will be remembered by having their names inscribed on a memorial plaque that will be put up alongside the defibrillator. This will aim to ensure their legacies are tied to the new health resource. Pineapple Pub landlord Rilind Muho said: “It’s a fantastic achievement and a much-needed pie.