Bishop vows to back ‘inspirational’ LIVES

The Bishop of Lincoln has called on church communities across the county to do more to help the ‘fantastic’ work done by LIVES.
Heart of the matter: The Bishop of Lincoln with staff at LIVESHeart of the matter: The Bishop of Lincoln with staff at LIVES
Heart of the matter: The Bishop of Lincoln with staff at LIVES

The Rt Revd Christopher Lowson visitedthe Horncastle-based charity last week and praised staff for their ‘fantastic and inspirational’ work in the county.

The Bishop said he doubted whether frontline emergency services would be able to functions as well as they do, without the back-up provided by LIVES.

And he believes the church can play a major role in boosting the profile of LIVES - and helping raise vital funds.

Bishop Lowson said: “For me, this is a completely new experience of volunteering that I knew nothing about really.

“The fact LIVES is doing such excellent work and has saved 200 lives in the last year is an amazing thing,.

“The people involved here are an inspiration. It must be fantastic to be able to see you have actually saved a life, especially when you can do so in a an understated and self effacing way.

“However, LIVES is rather tucked away and people don’t know about it.

“I would imagine the statutory emergency services - like ambulances - would not be able to functions as well a as they do without this excellent network of people who want to be able to help.

“I would urge people support LIVES.

“Indeed,it has made me think what can I do to help - after from learning how to do CPR.

“The church is a network where we have lots and lots of people who are voluntary minded and might be able to help.

“We need to look at that and this visit has certainly inspired me to do more to help.”

LIVES recently revealed it needs to raise more than £1.1m every year to cover operating costs.

The vast majority of the money comes from donations.

LIVES chairman Doctor Alan Sagar said: “We are very grateful to the Bishop for taking the time out of his very busy schedule to visit us.

“His message of support and his kind words for our charity - which is all about helping the people of Lincolnshire - is absolutely fantastic.”