News

Strathclyde Women’s Hockey Club raises funds for defibrillator for Student Village

Students Helena Tipper and Rebecca Flett with the new AED.

The University of Strathclyde’s Women’s Hockey Club clocked up 6,500 km to raise funds for a defibrillator unit in the on-campus Student Village.

The club raised just over £2,000 for the Automated External Defibrillator (AED) – which is used to restart a stopped heart during cardiac arrest – which has been installed in the Village office.

The new unit brings the total number of Automated External Defibrillators (AED) on campus to eight, after the University increased its provision from five to seven over the last 18 months. The AEDs are located in the library, Strathclyde Sport, Student Union, James Watt, TIC, John Anderson building and Livingstone Tower.

Response time

Rebecca Flett, club captain, said: “While the University already had seven defibrillator units located around the campus, we identified a need for one nearer to the student accommodation that was accessible 24/7.

“We realised that having easy access to a defibrillator somewhere in the halls would not only massively shorten the response time, but also greatly increase the chance of survival.

“We’ve been fundraising for the past two years now, through a series of fitness based challenges. These continued in 2020 during lockdown with members walking, running or cycling 5k a day for the month of November. As a club we completed a total 6,500km.”

Some individuals also took on their own challenges earlier this year, including:

  • Emma Olliver and Iona Macintyre-Beon, who rowed the equivalent of the width of the English Channel
  • Charlotte Drainer and Amy Broadhurst, who climbed all the stairs at every subway station in Glasgow
  • Helena Tipper and Hannah Macdonald, who did a cyclathon and cycled over 250km between them in one day.
  • Emelia Conner, who ‘went red for a week’, painting herself red and wore red clothes for a week whilst going about normal life. She carried around a collection bucket everywhere she went and managed to raise a significant amount of money.

Rebecca added: “We believe this is the first student-funded defibrillator unit which could be a lifesaver. It is not just for the benefit of students of course, it is there for the greater community as well. We’re hugely grateful for the support we’ve received over the last two years.”