A care home has launched a campaign to raise enough money to buy a community defibrillator after it realised the nearest life-saving equipment was too far away.
Woodspring House nursing home, located in the centre of Fakenham, has launched a bid to raise the £2,500 needed to install a community defibrillator on the outside of its building.
The idea for the project came following the sudden death of a woman in the town earlier this month - an event which caused the care home's staff to look into where its nearest community defibrillator was.
When they realised the nearest device was five to six minutes' walk away in each direction, they decided one was needed closer to the home.
Lisa Black, manager of Woodspring House, said: "We want to do this, we're passionate about it. [Five to six minutes away] is too far and being a care home it's ideal to have one outside ours. Someone is always here to offer reassurance."
Ms Black said the staff and residents were all behind the campaign and had been busy coming up with fundraising ideas such as a raffle. She said the home was also open to ideas from the town and wanted the whole community to get involved with the project.
She said: "Residents are coming up their own ideas and suggestions, one even suggested a sponsored silence. "We would love the community to get involved."
Ms Black said the home had also approached other businesses in the town to support the fundraising bid.
She said: "We want it to be part of the community and for them to be able to use it should they need it. Sadly it takes a woman's death for us to think it about it as a community."
Encouraging people from the town to get behind the idea, and follow the fundraising campaign via the home's GoFundMe and social media pages, Ms Black said: "This is a call to arms, it's a bad enough time as it is, let's rally together and get a defibrillator, hopefully it will never be used but if it is, it will be accessible."
Woodspring's defibrillator fundraising page can be found here.
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