The residents’ association at a Cornish park raised more than £2,500 to buy a defibrillator in just six weeks with the help of big-hearted insurance company, Towergate.

The committee at Honicombe Park, in Callington, purchased the life-saving defibrillator and a cabinet to house it in, exceeding their £2,400 target and raising an impressive £2,691.66 in total.

Park residents participated by filling hexagon-shaped Smartie tubes with 20p coins; each tube, if filled to the top, contained £12. This idea, the brainchild of the residents’ association treasurer Terry Smith, helped garner £518 of the total.

Two residents also volunteered to take a sponsored zip wire challenge, raising £217 towards the fund.

Committee members hosted an afternoon tea event which raised another £90, too.

Finally, secretary Diane Clark contacted various sponsors and successfully secured a huge boost to the fundraising, including Towergate’s generous contribution.
Diane said: ‘We are extremely grateful to all who participated in fundraising, supplied the installation and electrical costs for the defibrillator, and especially to those who so kindly and generously donated towards obtaining the defibrillator and cabinet.

‘They include Towergate Insurance; the Callington Lions; Calstock Parish Council; the Queen’s Head Pub, in Albaston; Mark Wilkin’s Kenpo Karate; and Central Motors. They all pitched in.

‘We’d also like to thank Berkeleyparks for installing and covering the electrical  running costs.

‘We couldn’t have succeeded without you.’

The idea for the defibrillator came about because, over the past couple of years, several park residents have had heart problems and had to wait for the ambulance and first responder to arrive.

The average age on the park is between 65 and 75. It was agreed that it would be sensible to have a defibrillator on the park.

The concept was put forward at the residents’ association AGM on 16 May. The residents unanimously voted for it and the residents’ association committee agreed they would fundraise to cover the cost of the defibrillator.

Adam Summersby, head of caravan and park home at Towergate, said:  ‘At Towergate Insurance we love to give back to the communities we insure and when we were asked to donate, we didn’t hesitate.

‘We take pride in meeting the entire sponsorship amount, where possible, but this one, for me, stands out – a community coming together to raise funds and save lives with an on-site defibrillator is a true representation of the togetherness the park home lifestyle promotes.’