The Mitchy Foundation forms a strategic partnership with The Benfleet First Responders

We are proud to announce a new strategic partnership between The Mitchy Foundation and The Benfleet Community First Responders.

Based in Benfleet, Essex, the Benfleet CFR team is a group of trained volunteers working in partnership with the East of England Ambulance Service. They are dispatched to life-threatening 999 calls in the local area and very often arrive before an ambulance, providing rapid first aid, defibrillation and reassurance when every second counts. The team currently answers more than 800 calls a year with around 10 active volunteers.

In a cardiac arrest the minutes before an ambulance arrives are the ones that matter most. A responder who lives nearby can be on scene in a fraction of the time, start CPR and use a defibrillator, and that is the window where lives are saved.

Through this partnership we will support the Benfleet team with funding for equipment, training and the everyday running costs that keep a volunteer scheme on the road. In return, the team will work with us on community CPR and defibrillator awareness sessions across the area.

It is a natural fit for both sides, and a practical step towards the foundation's core aim: fewer sudden cardiac deaths in the communities we serve. You can learn more about the Benfleet CFR team, or get involved as a volunteer, at benfleetcfr.org.