The Grenfell community have dug deep to raise $2,784 for a community defibrillator which will be installed on Main Street outside the Medical Centre.
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Weddin Health Council's Di Donohue said a major consideration for this project was a health emergency by a well known community member late at night, causing concern whether this person would have survived if they had very fast access to a defibrillator.
Ms Donohue said she put out a call to see where community defibrillators were already installed, finding that all of them were inside a variety of venues which the community loses access to when these premises are closed.
She said this called into focus the need for the community to have access to a defibrillator 24/7.
"I thought we needed one that anybody can just grab 24/7, without having to work out where one is and to go hunting around. Everybody in town knows where the Medical Centre is, even the visitors," Ms Donohue.
The decision to fundraise among the community for this project was part of an aim to bring the community together and make it a community owned project.
Ms Donohue said that they could have gone for grants from funding bodies or seek funds from local Council, but with COVID-19 stresses and poor public sentiment about the main street restoration works, she thought it was better to try fundraising directly from the community.
Ms Donohue said it is really community driven and owned, with local residents and former residents donating to what they commented as a very important project.
The funds needed were raised inside a month, with the defibrillator ordered, and Ms Donohue is hopeful that with the support of the local Council it will be installed in the next two or three weeks.
While the fundraising is now over, if any donations still come in, Ms Donohue said anything over their target goal will go towards purchasing a spare set of defibrillator pads and potentially some educational material and posters about how to use the defibrillator placed in key locations, including inside the Medical Centre.
Along with being placed in a well lit part of the street, Ms Donohue said Council will assist with the installation of CCTV surveillance to help deter vandalism.
