The 10-year partnership of the British Coatings Federation with the charity organisation resulted in more than 750 life-saving defibrillator stations installed.
The British Coatings Federation (BCF) is celebrating a decade of cooperation with the Community Heartbeat Trust
(CHT), which has resulted in more than £100,000 donated and over 750 unused iconic red phone boxes transformed into life-saving defibrillator stations
through the Minutes Matter campaign.
The BCF has also recently held its third annual charity bike ride, that started at the offices in Coventry before covering the breadth of the local Warwickshire countryside. The event witnessed the participation of 83 riders – doubling the number of 2022 – who raised over £19,000.
The members of BCF have now cycled a total of 12,265km, a distance equivalent of travelling from London to New York and back. The organisation has been working alongside CHT since 2013, using its expertise to provide a paint system of undercoat and traditional red topcoat to every local community that installs a defibrillator in a disused phone box.
“I am inordinately proud of the work we do with the Community Heartbeat Charity, now in our 10th year of partnership through the Minutes Matter campaign. This has given 750 communities across the UK access to a potentially life-saving defibrillator, plus giving a new lease of life to iconic red phone boxes found in most villages. I would like to thank our members for their kind and generous contributions and look forward to hitting the 1,000-phone box conversion mark in the not-too-distant future!” has stated Tom Bowtell, the CEO of the British Coatings Federation.
According to the UK Resuscitation Council, for every minute that someone in cardiac arrest is not receiving CPR or the assistance of a defibrillator, their chance of survival decreases by 10%. So, the council suggests a defibrillator should be no more than five minutes away from wherever medical treatment is required. The CHT, by repurposing thousands of decommissioned and unused red phone boxes, aims to preserve the lives of 60,000 people – half of those who suffer from cardiac arrest every year.
“The Community Heartbeat Trust charity is delighted to partner again with the BCF on its annual bike ride and thanks the BCF team and members for all their support, over the years. Cardiac Arrest affects 60,000 people a year across the UK and the current survival rate post-hospital is only nine per cent. We aim to increase this to 50% by providing the correct defibrillators for communities and grassroots sports, but also by having these supported by education programmes, long-term resilience programmes and Governance,” has added Martin Fagan, the national secretary of the Community Heartbeat Trust. “To date, we have delivered over 8,500 programmes throughout the UK. We have just concluded discussions with BT about a programme for the next few years to have even more disused phone boxes available. Changing technology is also bringing new opportunities, so this is a very exciting time to be involved in this important area.”