RESIDENTS on a borough estate came together today (Sunday, 4 June, to celebrate the installation of a lifesaving device.

Borough mayor Cllr Sue Little was on hand at the Bonners estate in Orsett to cut the ribbon on a defibrillator.

The project was kicked off two months ago with resident Joyce Hill voicing concern via a local social media group about the lack of a defibrillator on the estate. 

Within hours a core team of likeminded volunteers was established and set about taking this forward. Flyers were designed and posted through everyone's doors with a link to a GoFundMe page set up by Pam Grice. A team of five strong (Pam, Anj, Michelle & Steve with Joyce at the helm) quickly began to see donations fly in.

Within a matter of a weeks a sum of just over £1,800 was raised, enabling Charlotte from Katie's Heart Appeal to place an order for the defibrillator, box and facilities needed to get the equipment into action.

Mayor Cllr Sue Little cuts the ribbon.

Steve Millbank picked the ideal location for the equipment conveniently next to the Royal Mail post box in Welling Road. Steve then drafted in his brother Paul who made a robust steel support, which will be sure to last the life of the equipment and beyond.

The team would like to thank the kind agreement of Ricky and  Sandra to have the box attached to their fence post and provide ongoing power for the internal heater of the box. The project was complete last week when the electrician, Andy Thomas, and Nyland Electrical services were quickly on hand to provide the electrical connection required to power the equipment supplied free of charge to the community.

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Cllr Little commented on strong community spirit of tenacity of Joyce and the team to see this through and thanked them for all their efforts including all those who donated making this project possible.

Matt Jackson Chair of the Bonners Residents Association thanked everyone for their efforts in seeing the project through – saying: "Its a lovely place to live and now we have a small piece of insurance that raises the chances of survival (up to 70%) following cardia arrest, which could affect anyone of any age!"

Dave Bowling explains how the defib and box work.

He went on to say the association will fund a second unit at the Scouts Hall on Bristowe Drive and will look for dates to carry out community training.

He added: "David Bowling has been an inspiration to the team and always on hand for advice & support for which we are very grateful."