A Malvern charity is on a mission to provide CPR and defibrillator training to residents across the district in a bid to save lives.
Heartstart Malvern will be providing a full day of Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillator training, all for free. Five training sessions, each lasting just 90 minutes, will be held throughout the day.
The event will take place on Restart a Heart Day (16 October) at Malvern Theatres and will be available for anyone over the age of 11.
No prior knowledge is needed, and the hands-on sessions will cover everything from treating someone who is having a heart attack to using an external defibrillator to try and restart at heart.
On the same day, a new project which will see five new community resuscitation schemes set up across the Malvern Hills District over the next 12 months. Each of the five schemes will be based on the highly successful Heartstart Malvern model.
Starting in Tenbury Wells and Kempsey, the schemes aim to increase the survival rate from a cardiac arrest by providing free Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillator training to the local community and schools.
As well as this, the project will also increase the number of defibrillators within the community.
The life-saving project will be funded by Malvern Hills District Council and run in collaboration with Community Action Malvern and District.
According to the charity, survival rate from a cardiac arrest is less than ten per cent and if more people had the confidence to do CPR and had access to a defibrillator, the survival rate could be as high as 70 per cent.
Since forming in 2017, Heartstart Malvern has provided free CPR and defibrillator training to almost 7,000 people and installed 36 defibrillators.
Richard Vakis-Lowe, Chairman of Heartstart Malvern, said: “A cardiac arrest is a time critical emergency, where someone must start CPR or use a defibrillator within the first three minutes of a person collapsing for them to stand any chance of surviving. With 80% of cardiac arrests happening in people’s homes it is really important that as many people as possible are confident to deliver CPR and to use a defibrillator. The support being provided by Malvern Hills District Council and Community Action Malvern and District to replicate what Heartstart Malvern has achieved locally across the whole district will lead to many lives being saved in the future.”
Launa Brooks, Chief Executive Officer at Community Action Malvern and District, said: “We are very excited to be working with Richard to extend the great work they do into local communities. We hope our connections and networks across the district will make a difference to the amount of people Heartstart can train, to make the Malvern district a safer place to live and work”.
Cllr Jennie Watkins, Portfolio Holder for Communities at Malvern Hills District Council, said: “We are so pleased to be funding this fantastic project which will give people the practical skills, as well as the confidence, to be able to help in a life-or-death situation. As part of our Council Plan, one of our priorities is to give our communities the tools to save lives by providing funding for defibrillators and resuscitation training. We encourage everyone to sign up for the training, even if they have done it before in the past”.
Visit www.heartstartmalvern.org.uk to book on to the Retstart a Heart Day training sessions.
Pictured: Heartstart volunteers Sue Cole, Eleri Cusick, and David Grier.
Date published: 30 September 2025