Twickenham’s Marble Hill Park will soon have a new defibrillator after the community helped raise over £1,500 to fund its instalment.
The Friends of Marble Hill, a group supporting and protecting the park, began fundraising in October and were overwhelmed by the response.
Once installation outside the park’s Coach House Café is complete, it will mean the many people using the area have a heart-starting device easily to hand, should disaster strike.
Rachel Morrison, one of four members of the Friends of Marble Hill, said: “We put together what was essentially a crowdfunder, and the response was absolutely amazing.
“Within just under two weeks, we had got the full amount of money and it just showed the level of support in the community for each other.
“It was lovely to be part of the Marble Hill friends, who instigated that opportunity.”
Built in the 18th century, the Richmond villa is today an English heritage site, and has recently undergone an £8million renovation.
It attracts a wide variety of visitors, with its historic house telling the tale of former Georgian owner Henrietta Howard – reportedly George II’s mistress.
Its 66 acres of parkland are also home to many sporting teams and fitness classes.
Morrison, whose day job is in film, revealed working with the local area, as well as social media, was a key part of the fundraising strategy.
The initiative was shared on many Facebook groups and local news outlets, as well as being passed around schools.
It was supported by football clubs and personal trainers and the £1,580 raised will fund installation and ensure the defibrillator is maintained for years to come.
The project installed a defibrillator in the house’s rangers’ office, but with annual footfall in the millions, Morrison feared many would not know how to respond if faced with an incident.
Morrison said: “Because we have a lot of people using the park in lots of different ways, the defibrillator that’s nearest isn’t actually that close.”
“Often people don’t think of calling the ranger at first. Generally, people think 999.
“But having the defibrillator accessible for all by the café, really visible, will make a real difference because you have seconds to save a heart, and all of us can be affected by this.
“There’s been a recent spate of young footballers, you just don’t know what’s going to happen.
“It wasn’t anything particular (that prompted the idea), thank God, because obviously quite often these things are reactive.
“It was more about thinking, if something did happen, how accessible would that defibrillator be?”
The house was also owned by Robert Peel, a former prime minister and founder of the Metropolitan Police.
The building’s Grade II status has led to delays in the installation process, but the casing for the defibrillator is now being ordered.
Morrison said: “It’s got to go through a few processes, because we need to make sure that it is really accessible and not too unsightly, because no one wants that in their pretty pictures for their wedding reception or whatever.
“We are pushing very hard to kind of go ‘right, we’ve got the money, now we want to tell people about it.
“We’re supporting English Heritage with training so that all their team have got knowledge of how to support but, when the café’s not open, it’s still going to be there for people to access.
“In the summer months, the park’s open super late, and everyone does everything in that park, some of us even had our first kiss there, so we need to make sure everyone’s safe.”
While awareness of defibrillators is on the rise, with over 100,000 registered on the British Heart Foundation’s Circuit, there is still some way to go.
According to the foundation, under one in 10 survive an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and less than 10% of those use a defibrillator.
Morrison believes there should be a national scheme to ensure everyone has access to a device.
She said: “It’s kind of left up to community groups, employers or town centre hubs.
“It’d be much better if it was standardised, we know the importance of getting support quickly.
“There are many reports of people having their lives saved, so it feels really important that provision is really accessible.”
The Friends run many other schemes for the community, such as dog shows, organised walks and helping young offenders.
The park’s importance is not lost on Morrison, particularly in the modern world.
She said. “People can be glued to their phones, but actually being out with other people can help people’s mental health and a lot of work is being done around that with the volunteers.”
“We’re just a small team of four and we care about the space and the community.
“We were totally flummoxed by the level of response and support. It’s kind of incredible that we’re able to do that.”
Featured image credit: Callum Humphrey
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