The Midcounties Co-operative Installs Life Saving Defibrillators at Three Oxford Food Stores in Partnership With the Community Heartbeat Trust

The Midcounties Co-operative has installed three new defibrillators in food stores across Oxford as part of its partnership with the Community Heartbeat Trust to bring the life-saving equipment to as many communities as possible.

Your Co-op Food stores in Long Hanborough, Rosehill, and Iffley Road are the latest to receive defibrillators, taking the total number installed to 49 across the regions in which it operates.

With each new installation, The Midcounties Co-operative provides in-store training workshops for the local community to attend, as well as running regular free online sessions hosted by the Trust to help raise wider awareness.

The Community Heartbeat Trust also trains colleagues to check the equipment once a week to ensure the defibrillators are always rescue-ready and able to save lives for many years to come.

Colleagues across all three stores undertook a range of fundraising activities to support the installation and ongoing maintenance of the equipment. These included book sales, cake sales, and quizzes. The defibrillator at Your Co-op Food Rosehill was primarily funded through a generous donation from The Rotary Club of Oxford Isis, with remaining funds topped up through additional fundraising efforts.

The training, alongside the life-saving defibrillators, has proven to be invaluable — they were used 68 times in the last year alone.

Tarra Simmons, Head of Community & Democratic Engagement at The Midcounties Co-operative, said:

“We want to say a huge thank you to the passionate community fundraisers, our amazing colleagues, and our partners at the Community Heartbeat Trust for all their work in helping us do good together and install these life-saving defibrillators at so many of our stores.

The equipment is invaluable to our communities, and we look forward to installing more in the coming year.”

Mike Black, President of the Rotary Club of Oxford Isis, said:

“We are delighted to combine with the Community Heartbeat Trust and The Midcounties Co-operative to provide vital lifesaving equipment for the benefit of the people of Oxford."

For more information about how to use a defibrillator and the Community Heartbeat Trust, please visit: https://www.communityheartbeat.org.uk