After the story in the York Press on the 20 January, Bootham Girls’ & Ladies’ Futsal Club – York was overwhelmed by the requests for a free defibrillator. The money to purchase the defibrillators was raised by a month long 5k running challenge and a 3-hour futsal marathon for the players and parents of the club.

Chairman Chris Collins said, ‘We couldn’t believe the number of places that wanted our help. We had requests from schools, churches, committee, and sports clubs. Unfortunately, we only had one defibrillator to give away, so we put all the names into a hat and drew one out, this seemed the fairest way to decide.’

The lucky organisation was St. Luke’s Church on Burton Stone Lane. Gillian Tyler, St. Luke’s Church PCC Secretary said, ‘We would like to thank Bootham Girls’ & Ladies’ Futsal Club – York for this wonderful donation. The defibrillator will be a real asset to the local community. St. Luke’s Church runs various groups for elderly people helping to combat social isolation as well as groups for children and young people and Luke’s Larder, a weekly event tackling food waste and food shortages. A defibrillator will be a wonderful addition to our buildings making life safer for groups using our hall and church buildings. We recognise the tremendous achievement by the club in raising funds to buy these defibrillators.’

As a final thought, Chris Collins said, ‘If any of the 3 defibrillators we have purchased saves just one life, then all the very hard work by all members of the club will have been worthwhile.

We would like to thank each and every person who donated, and especially the companies who donated prizes to reward the players with. We are gutted we couldn’t help any other organisation but who knows, we may well do this again next year.’