Science company helps safeguard new Derby sports facilities with defibrillator funding

The park on Warwick Avenue has recently benefited from brand new accessible sports facilities in the form of a ‘Cruyff’ football pitch and ‘Playzone’ court for basketball and football, fitted out with astroturf and flood lighting.

Now science company Lubrizol, which has a UK technical centre at Hazelwood near Duffield, has stepped on board to help complete the project by supporting the funding of a new defibrillator to help safeguard people using the Normanton facilities.

The company, which employs around 300 people in Derbyshire, has adopted St John Ambulance as its charity over a two-year period – which includes fundraising to help raise awareness of what to do when someone has a cardiac arrest.

In the UK, more than 30,000 people suffer a cardiac arrest every year. When this happens, every second counts and the key to survival is early chest compressions and early defibrillation.

Without lifesaving intervention the chances of survival start to decrease by about 10 per cent with every passing minute.

Ben Rigby, director at Sporting Communities – which is managing the facilities at Normanton Park – said the organisation was very grateful for Lubrizol’s support.

He said: “Because we are a Community Interest Company, the support from Lubrizol has been invaluable. The defibrillator helps safeguard the local community which is really benefiting from these new facilities. We have a local primary school using the Playzone for a certain amount of time a week but for the rest of the time the facilities are available to book.

“We have lots of different sporting activities happening at Normanton Park including walking football and women’s only groups. It just gives us all peace of mind to know that this defibrillator is there for the use of the community should it be needed. Thank you to the team at Lubrizol for helping provide this invaluable resource.”

The Normanton Park PlayZone project was funded by the Premier League, The FA, Sporting Communities and Government’s Football Foundation through Sport England as well as through Derby City Council via an external grant from the UK Government’s Levelling Up Parks Fund.

Claire Hollingshurst, from Lubrizol’s charities and communities committee, said: “Our charitable work with St John Ambulance is very important to us at Lubrizol, as is giving back to the communities in which we work. We are pleased and proud to have been able to have lent our support to help fund the new defibrillator at Normanton Park. Clearly, it is to be hoped it is never used, but all the evidence shows that access to a defibrillator can be the difference between life and death and it’s very important that they are funded in as many communities as possible.”