A KIND-HEARTED girl has launched a campaign to put a defibrillator in every school in Bromsgrove.
Emily Faulkner, ten, started Every Heart Matters after attending a defib training session with Rob and Maggie Underwood from Charlotte and Craig Saving Hearts Foundation (CCSHF) and hearing their story.
Rob and Maggie started the charity when they lost two of their children – Charlotte and Craig – to rare heart conditions.
Emily’s aunt and grandad, Gail and Colin Fry from Focal Image worked with the charity to install a defib at their business and the charity installed one at the NEW Ravens rugby club and at Emily’s trampolining club.
Gail said: “She pointed out her school, Parkside Middle, didn’t have a defibrillator and said she was going to raise enough funding to get one.”
Emily came up with the idea to design and print T-shirts and bags to sell and Focal Image has created them at cost so all profits could go to the cause.
With £360 already in the bank and the defibs costing around £900, Emily is well on the way to getting the device for Parkside.
And she has set herself the ambitious challenge of raising £10,000 so every school in Bromsgrove can have one.
Gail said: “We are so proud of her and what she is doing.
“She has really grown in confidence and it is great she is doing something for such an amazing cause.”
More cash will be raised at a Junior Festival and Fun Day at Kings Norton Rugby Club, the home of the NEW Ravens, next Saturday and Sunday, July 1 and 2 where Emily will also have her own stall.
It will feature junior activities and competitions, a first team game, fixtures for under 9s to 16s, inflatables, fairground rides, food, drink, a disco and camping.
Rob said: “She is a real superstar – from taking part in one training session to understanding the importance of defibs and launching her campaign is amazing.
“It’s fantastic she’s doing this at such a young age to protect everyone and we hope all the schools in Bromsgrove will support her.
“If she gets this done it will be an amazing achievement, both for her, us and the all the schools.”
To donate to the cause visit localgiving.org/fundraising/everyheartmattersx or search for ‘Every Heart Matters by Emily Faulkner’ on Facebook for more on the campaign.
Call 07794 637073, email [email protected] or visit www.ccshf.org.uk to contact the Charlotte and Craig Saving Hearts Foundation.
