'˜Help celebrate our life-savers'

LIVES (Lincolnshire Integrated Voluntary Emergency Service) holds the first Everyday Heroes Week from Wednesday, October 5, to Sunday, October 9.

The week aims to pay tribute to the work of the charity’s first responders, the volunteers who are alerted by the ambulance service to attend patients within their community following 999 phone calls, with the idea being they can offer potentially life-saving support ahead of the arrival of crews.

They are the Everyday Heroes from whom the week takes its name.

In addition to spotlighting the role of first responders, the week aims to help raise funds for the charity’s work.

The charity needs to raise more than £1million each year from donations to train and equip volunteers with life-saving skills and equipment.

The week will include organised events, such as extraction demonstrations with Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Service, taking place on Saturday, October 8 at St Mark’s Shopping Centre in Lincoln, as well as activities for all ages such as face painting, bake sales and competitions.

LIVES is also encouraging community groups and businesses to hold fundraisers for the charity in October, be it a fancy dress day, dog walk or pub quiz, and apply the “Heroes” theme.

Chief executive of LIVES Nikki Silver said: “The sponsored activities and demonstrations are central to our first Everyday Heroes Week; we’re asking everyone to get involved so we can continue supporting the work of our fantastic volunteers.

“The week also gives us a great opportunity to go into the community and demonstrate the skills required to save a life. As well as the CPR and defibrillator demonstrations, we’ll be training 100 members of the Sleaford District Cubs in the Cubs 100 CPR Challenge.

“Our volunteers are real-life heroes. Their commitment to saving lives is second to none, so it’s important that we recognise the amazing work they do. Visitors to our website or social media pages during the week can see a number of case studies that give a real flavour of how much they contribute to Lincolnshire.”

To find out about activities near you, visit @liveshq on Twitter.

Anyone taking part in hero-themed activities is encouraged to share pictures there, using the hashtag #everyday heroes.

To learn more about LIVES and keep up-to-date on its work, visit www.lives.org.uk.