News 17th December 2025
Defibrillator Project Ensures 24/7 Access in our School Communities
Every second counts when it comes to a cardiac arrest. That’s why SAST, in partnership with local businesses, charities and the Southwest Ambulance Service, came together with one goal: to make sure all 18 schools and every community served by SAST has access to a defibrillator.
Matt Barge, Executive Headteacher, who led the project, said “The project was initiated by one of our school parents, Hannah MacClean, who is a Clinical Nurse and Community First Responder with the Southwest Ambulance Service. When our executive team was approached, getting buy-in was straight forward. Morally everyone agreed it was the right thing to do. But there was a practical challenge of ongoing costs and identifying a guardian for each defibrillator”.
Funding for the cabinets was secured through a combination of school events, charities and local businesses. Events like ‘heart-themed days’, sponsored runs, and even a ‘hearty joke book’ written by pupils, raised both money and awareness. As part of the project, all Year 6 students within the Trust received CPR and defibrillator training in the summer term, and were given homework to share their training with their parents when they got home.
This is a fantastic example of communities coming together. We’d like to thank Hannah MacClean for all her hard work, local charity Jay’s Aim, which helped fund the cabinets, The Swan Trust who helped purchase training mannequins, Nick (a parent) from Hutchins Electrical Contractors who gave up his time to help install the cabinets, Luna Electrical, and also the SAST Estates team. We couldn’t have done it without their support!
> Read the full article on The Circuit website here.
