On Friday 3rd September JRF hosted a community First Aid training day which was attended by JRF staff and coaches, community members, and leaders from across the Borough.

The training was part of JRF’s Building Communities programme funded by the Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy (NCIL) through Brent Council, which aims to engage residents from targeted areas, and encourage them to access sports, fitness activities, training, and community events at Bridgestone Arena, the home of JRF.

As well as general first aid techniques the trainer gave life-saving advice and practical experience to the two groups of 12 trainees. The groups were also given a focused training session on how to use a defibrillator which was timely, as the JRF were recently given one by the Justin Edinburgh Foundation.

The feedback from the day was very positive with participants feeling better equipped and informed on such an important topic.

Local resident Hussein who took part in the training said, “When I heard the Foundation were running this course, I immediately jumped at the chance to attend and to upskill myself. I now feel in a better position to save a life.”

JRF Safeguarding Officer Valerie Robert said, “We have a lot of local volunteers and community members who access the centre, and we were pleased to be able to offer them this vital training. I was delighted by the response and enthusiasm from the two groups during the sessions and I’m sure we will be offering more community training courses in the future.”

As the British Heart Foundation say on their website , “Communities can play a big part in creating a nation of life savers. Having a defibrillator in your community and training people in CPR means that more people will know what to do when someone has a cardiac arrest.” https://www.bhf.org.uk/how-you-can-help/how-to-save-a-life/cpr-training-in-communities/defibrillators-in-communities

These Brent residents now know how to save a life.

If you would like to learn more about the Building Communities programme, or would like to be informed of future community training courses please contact the JRF at info@jasonrobertsfoundation.org