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The Sure Community Foundation has donated a defibrillator in a telephone box at the top of Harbour Hill in Sark.


When the Chief Pleas Medical and Emergency Committee in Sark realised the importance of acquiring another defibrillator on island, they asked Conseiller Vaughan Bougourd and the Cardiac Action Group to get in touch with the Sure Community Foundation requesting support. The Foundation were more than happy to supply Sark with the essential equipment the island needs.


Vaughn said of the acquisition: “It fell to me to try and find out how we could get another defibrillator on the island, and I was delighted when I found out that the Sure Community Foundation could help us. With their kind donation of this vital lifesaving equipment, the people of Sark can rest easy knowing that assistance, if needed, isn’t too far away.


“I am so grateful to organisations such as the Foundation, their funding of equipment such as this is so helpful, and I know it will bring peace of mind to many”.


The Sure Community Foundation provided both the funding to purchase the AED, and the telephone box in which it is situated. As phone box usage has decreased, Sure has sought alternative uses for the structures, and housing Sark’s latest AED was a good fit. Provided by the registered charity, the Cardiac Action Group, the Church Square in Guernsey also has an AED in a phone box.


Sark has four existing defibrillators in various locations, and the addition of this new piece of equipment improves coverage across the island. Sark has eight community responders trained to use the equipment, with the Cardiac Action Group facilitating more training on how to use the AED’s to the public soon. The boxes feature vocal instruction and automatically dial 999 for assistance, so are easy to use in an emergency.


Lucienne De La Mare, Chair of the Sure Community Foundation, said: “We were more than happy to transform the old and unused telephone box into something beneficial to provide our sister island Sark with such important equipment. We believe in using the Sure Community Foundation to benefit the lives of our fellow islanders, and there’s no better way to do this than by donating equipment that will save lives.”