A kind-hearted North Bristol charity has raised money for a potentially life-saving defibrillator which was officially unveiled by the West of England's Mayor Dan Norris on Wednesday 14 June.

Funded by the Henbury and Brentry Community Centre, for the local community, the defibrillator, a machine which can restart the heart - a vital life-saving tool for people who suffer a sudden cardiac arrest – has been installed.

Across the West, 3,100 people suffer a heart attack each year. According to the British Heart Foundation, less than 1 in 10 people survive a sudden cardiac arrest. But having a Defib on site and using it quickly means the odds of someone's survival can jump from around 6% to 74% - a huge difference.

Bristol has fewer lifesaving machines than elsewhere in the country. There are just 1 per 100,000 people, according to data, compared to 146 per 100,000 in Swansea, so Mr Norris says he is delighted this additional lifesaving machine is helping address the shortfall.

Fundraising efforts from the award-winning and big-hearted Community Centre saw them raise over £1,500 to secure and install the vital heart equipment on site.

A number of volunteers at the Centre have now been trained in how to use the defibrillator, which Mayor Norris says "literally save lives", while the machine is also now registered on ‘The Circuit' – a UK-wide registry of defibrillators so the Ambulance Service can easy locate it in an emergency.

Mayor Norris said:

"Having a defibrillator close by at times of urgent need can literally save lives. I would particularly like to thank Wendy Baverstock, Dave Mullaney, Marianna Georgiou and the rest of the Henbury and Brentry Community Centre team for their extraordinary efforts to secure this new life-saving device for locals."

The Metro Mayor also backed calls for more defibrillators to be installed across Bristol, and the West of England to address a "healthcare crisis" of needless deaths from heart attacks in the community.

"I've heard extraordinary stories of people being kept alive thanks to residents thinking on their feet and using the defibrillator in their local community as quickly as possible. We must, must, must install many more of these life-saving devices so we can beat the cardiac killer and mend broken hearts for good",