Partnership to teach South Wales schools lifesaving skills

St John Ambulance Cymru and National Grid Electricity Distribution are working together to ensure young people in South Wales are taught invaluable safety information this year.

National Grid is sponsoring the running costs of demonstrations in 20 schools and youth groups in its South Wales distribution area, which will be delivered by the first aid charity for Wales between January and April 2024.

Young people will learn important skills that could help save a life such as CPR, defibrillator awareness, choking response and the recovery position. They will also learn about various electrical hazards and how to avoid electricity-related accidents.

The first of these sessions took place at St Illtyd’s Catholic High School based in Rumney, Cardiff, with a group of year 8 students. The young people listened to National Grid’s electrical safety talk before learning the basics of first aid and having a practice with the CPR dummies. The students loved the session with St John Ambulance Cymru Trainer, Lesa, and National Grid representative, Jacob.

St John Ambulance Cymru runs free first aid demonstrations in schools and community groups all year round and the National Grid’s sponsorship is helping both organisations share lifesaving knowledge with even more young people in Wales.

Nichola Coucerio, Head of Fundraising, Engagement and Communications at St John Ambulance Cymru commented: “We are delighted to be partnering with National Grid on this important project, which is educating children on how to stay safe and save lives.

“At St John Ambulance Cymru we want every young person to have the skills and confidence to save a life, just in case an emergency should happen, and our free schools and community awareness sessions are one way that we are working towards this goal.

“We can’t do this without our generous supporters and we are very grateful to National Grid for partnering with us to deliver schools sessions in South Wales across the next few months.”

Nick South, Education and STEM Manager at National Grid Electricity Distribution also commented: “We are thrilled to offer our support to St John Ambulance Cymru.  Our safety messages are designed to help people avoid potential dangers around the electricity network and St John Ambulance Cymru take it the extra mile by teaching lifesaving skills that can be utilised in an emergency.

“This perfect partnership supports our ongoing commitment to educate children on electrical safety whilst helping to grow our relationship with local schools and the wider community.”