£1.8m charity grant boosts community lifesaving resilience

NORTH West Ambulance Charity has been awarded a Community Resilience grant from NHS Charities Together through its £1.85 million Community Resilience Grants Fund in partnership with Omaze. The funding was generated through Omaze's Million Pound House Draw, which raised an incredible £2.6 million to support the vital work of NHS Ambulance Charities in the UK.

This fund is designed to build Community resilience across the North West and the rest of the UK, by equipping more people with the knowledge and confidence to respond to a cardiac arrest.

Currently, a person's chance of survival from a cardiac arrest is less than 10% and fewer than 1 in 10 people survive an out-of-Hospital cardiac arrest. This grant will go a long way toward improving this stark statistic by more than 50%, by helping with timely access to defibrillation and equipping communities with the lifesaving skills required to deliver CPR whilst waiting for the emergency services to arrive.

Jemma Kinch, Head of North West Ambulance Charity, said:- "We are overwhelmed to be awarded this £142,000 grant in partnership with NHS Charities Together and Omaze. We're delighted to be delivering this project across the North West to ensure our communities have the skills, resources and training they need to cope in emergencies. We're looking forward to seeing the difference this funding will have in helping to make sure fewer families aren't without loved ones."

The funding from NHS Charities Together will help the North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) strengthen community resilience by maximising coverage of existing defibrillators and focusing on areas where health inequalities, such as high cardiovascular rates and lifestyle factors, are closely correlated. This will be delivered through some of the following initiatives.

Supporting Communities with defibrillation awareness, training and education: This grant will fund training resources for communities, including:- multilingual and multi faith training packages. Training equipment such as mannequins and AED trainers, along with IT equipment to enhance the quality of existing training delivered and further strengthen the quality of life-saving CPR administered across our Region.

Support for Community 1st Responder Volunteers- Funds will help support the infrastructure of volunteers delivering community based life-saving training and education across the North West footprint, including:- train, the trainer packages for hard to reach communities and those facing health inequalities. This training will help ensure more people have the confidence to act quickly during an out- of Hospital cardiac arrest.

Making sure existing defibrillators are:- 'rescue ready,' This grant will provide 3 new roles to support communities with the replenishment of defibrillators and ensuring existing defibrillators are rescue ready. These roles will be responsible for providing CPR and defibrillator training to communities and coordinating community defibrillator volunteers, who will help to provide resources and awareness in the areas most in need.

Mark Evans, Regional Community Engagement Lead for NWAS, said:-  "I'm absolutely delighted that we've been awarded this grant. It will make a real difference to communities most in need. This funding allows us to focus on areas where support is critical, helping to educate people on how to potentially save a life. I'm deeply grateful to the North West Ambulance Charity, NHS Charities Together, and everyone who supported the Omaze Million Pound House Draw for making this project possible."

The North West Ambulance Charity works alongside the Ambulance service and in communities across the North West with a focus on funding vital lifesaving equipment, including:- defibrillators, helping with School education programs and funding additional medical equipment over and above what is already provided by the NHS. To ensure our staff can provide the very best care to patients when they need it most.

In the last year alone, £593,000 was spent by the NWAS charity on innovative wellbeing initiatives for our crews, providing lifesaving equipment for communities, and supporting projects that will help patients in their most critical moments.

For more information about North West Ambulance Charity, please visit the North West Ambulance charity's website,

Survivors' voices set to drive next steps in tackling Violence against Women and Girls

THE voices of victim survivors will continue to drive the work to tackle Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) across Merseyside, following a dedicated forum hosted by the Region's Police and Crime Commissioner today to listen, learn, and ensure lived experience remains at the heart of future work.

Held on Human Rights Day and marking the end of the United Nations' 16 Days of Activism campaign, the event brought together survivors, frontline organisations, and key partners for an open and honest discussion about what has changed, what still needs to improve and how services can work better together.

Alongside the Police and Crime Commissioner, Emily Spurrell, victim-survivors heard from - and had the opportunity to question; senior representatives from Merseyside Police, the Merseyside Violence Reduction Partnership, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service, the Crown Prosecution Service and North West Probation Service, the NHS and the Region's 5 local authorities about what has been delivered over the past 3 year since the launch of the Region-wide partnership VAWG Delivery Plan.

The leaders provided updates on their progress on the 57 actions set out in the strategy to protect women and girls, prevent violence, pursue offenders, and ensure tackling VAWG remains a top priority across Merseyside.

The forum gave victim survivors a unique opportunity to speak directly to decision makers, share their experiences, including:- the barriers they have faced in gaining justice and support and give their views on priorities for the future.

Survivors were also invited to give their insight on upcoming campaigns and strategies. Their feedback will shape recommendations on prevention, early intervention, cultural change, and support services and directly inform the next phase of the Delivery Plan.

Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner, Emily Spurrell said:- "This forum is about listening. Survivors' voices have shaped everything we've done so far, and they will continue to lead the way. Today was an opportunity to hear directly from those most affected about what's working, what isn't, and what needs to change. I am proud of the progress we've made since we launched our ambitious Region-wide strategy 3 years ago. But we hold this forum because it's vital that we remain accountable and transparent. Over the past 12 months, much has been delivered; from expanding specialist training and launching new support services to creating the first Femicide Oversight Group in the country and listening to the voices of women and girls every step of the way. But this isn't about celebrating achievements; it's about understanding what still needs to be done. Survivors' experiences have guided us, and their courage continues to inspire everything we do. We will take the lessons learned and the partnerships we've strengthened to shape the next phase of this vital work. Tackling violence against women and girls is a long term commitment, and together; with survivors' voices at the heart; we will keep driving forward until every woman and girl in Merseyside can live free from fear."

Key achievements against the:- 'Working in partnership to tackle Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) Delivery Plan'  presented include:-

• 2,900 Officers and staff and more than 5,101 partners have received the Merseyside Violence Reduction Partnership's trauma informed training to improve their response to victims and better safeguard vulnerable people.
  

• A further 1,800 frontline officers have had domestic abuse training, with 150 dedicated champions in force now, and further specialist training on stalking being delivered with the support of the Suzy Lamplugh Trust.
  

• Launched the first Femicide Oversight Group to examine why women continue to lose their lives to male violence in our Region; and what more can be done to stop it from happening
  

• 3,782 Primary School pupils have been helped to identify inappropriate behaviour through Send me a Selfie programme.
  

• Domestic Abuse Workplace Champion scheme has been refreshed, and 145 new Champions have been trained to better safeguard victims.
  

• New specialist support service for victims of stalking and harassment has been launched.
  

• New Regional lead to drive work to tackle Child to Adult or Parent Violence or Abuse.
  

• Increase in positive outcomes in domestic abuse cases and quicker, more effective charging decisions.
  

• Operation Topaz launched sees high risk offenders intercepted on our roads.
  

• Drive launched to tackle inequalities that prevent women and girls getting active.
  

• Published an in-depth review of funding for domestic abuse services setting out 20 key recommendations.
  

• Launched new phases of partnership campaign #TakingAction with Merseyside Police putting the voices of women and girls 1st, highlighting the red flags of domestic abuse and ripping apart the harmful myths that are used to excuse sexual offences and silence victims.

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