Following a successful fundraising event, staff at Scotrail have donated a pair of life-saving defibrillators to two schools in Gourock in Scotland.
Staff were able to provide two schools with defibrillators. Gourock Primary School and St Ninian's Primary School were both provided with the resuscitative devices as Christmas presents.
ScotRail staff regularly take opportunities to provide much needed charity contributions. In January, the company partnered with The Samaritans for a Brew Monday campaign, designed to help support people with mental health challenges.
The latest donation of the defibrillators was made possible by ScotRail station staff member, Angela McEwan, who organised an annual Christmas charity event, now in its third year.
The staff in attendance were able to raise over £2000, the largest amount ever raised at the annual event, which made it possible to purchase the medical equipment.
A further £200 was donated by members of the band who played at the event, who performed free of charge and even purchased their own tickets in order to attend.
This £200 is to be donated to Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow, and Christmas selection packs will also be donated to inpatient (and probably also impatient) children staying in wards over the festive period.
Last month saw the annual ScotRail in the Community Awards ceremony, where the volunteer efforts of various ScotRail employees were recognised.
Speaking of the year's Christmas event and the money that had been raised, organiser Angela McEwan said:
“Without the dedicated support from local ScotRail staff, family, and friends, we wouldn't be able to give these gifts at Christmas each year to our local communities.
“We're amazed at how much we've raised and proud to be able to offer two defibrillators to Primary Schools in the Gourock area.”
St Ninians's Primary School headteacher Siobhan Currie said of the new defibrillator:
“It's a wonderful piece of equipment to have, not just for our school but for the wider school community.
“Potentially, it could save someone's life, so we feel very fortunate to have this life-saving equipment in the school.”
Gourock Primary School headteacher Christine Murray added:
“We're absolutely delighted to receive our defibrillator and it's really comforting to have something like that within our school. It could possibly save a life in the future, so we're really pleased.
“We're very grateful to Angela at ScotRail and all the team who raised funds for this equipment. It was very kind of them, and we'd like to say thank you.”
