Lincolnshire shoppers raise more than £48,000 for LIVES

From March to June Lincolnshire Integrated Voluntary Emergency Services (LIVES) was nominated as Lincolnshire Co-op’s Community Champion in outlets across the county.

The Community Champions scheme sees every one of the Society’s 241,000 members linked to a good cause close to where they live.

For the last three months, every time they’ve used their dividend card in any Lincolnshire Co-op outlets where points are issued, a donation from the Community Champions pot has gone towards more than 80 LIVES and local first responder groups.

In total members have raised £48,370 for local lifesavers just by doing their shopping. The money will be spent on training and buying vital medical equipment such as defibrillators and specialist kit for the LIVES Medics as well as sustaining first responder groups.

LIVES Fundraising Manager Stephen Hyde said: “This donation means the world to us and to be recognised by Lincolnshire Co-op with a whole three months of fundraising has raised so much awareness of LIVES which is just as important.

“The amount of money raised is phenomenal – anything over £10k is huge so over £48k is unbelievable – it’s the largest amount we’ve ever had donated from an organisation. It will help save lives without a doubt.

“It costs £1m a year to keep LIVES running and we attend 18,500 calls a year. People think we will always be here to help but the reality is we need donations like this to continue to save lives in our communities.”

LIVES Medics and First Responders are all volunteers who give up their time to respond to emergencies in their communities. When people dial 999, not only will an ambulance be mobilised, the LIVES Medic or Responder on call in the area will also receive notification that help is needed.

First Responders are trained and equipped to provide care before an ambulance arrives for everything from cardiac arrests to fits. LIVES Medics have advanced skills for dealing with serious trauma, associated with road traffic collisions and industrial or farm accidents.

Anyone over 18 with a car who is able to lift 20kg can become a first responder and be taught to deliver CPR. LIVES is also keen for registered health care professionals to volunteer their time as medics. Find out more at www.lives.org.uk

A new set of Community Champions has now taken over and Lincolnshire Co-op members can see which group they are supporting on the bottom of their till receipt or on displays in store.