The BandAge community project targets areas where people are at greater risk of suffering cardiac arrest
Children from some of the most deprived areas in Scotland are set to learn lifesaving skills.
St Andrew’s First Aid has received £22,000 for its BandAge community project, which delivers certified first aid training and peer facilitation workshops to pupils in schools located in areas of deprivation.
The grant has been awarded by the Gannochy Trust in recognition of the value of BandAge and the benefits it delivers - to participants and wider communities. The funding will secure the future of the initiative for the next three years.
Since launching in 2015, BandAge has gone from strength to strength and has seen numbers of participants nearly double.
Last year, more than 500 pupils including 43 peer facilitators learned how to save a life using first aid.
The project is operating in selected schools in the Glasgow area, targeting areas of multiple deprivation. This funding will also allow the project to be extended across the west of Scotland.
Stuart Callison, chief executive of St Andrew’s First Aid, said: “Projects like BandAge are fundamental in changing Scottish attitudes towards learning first aid and equipping the young participants with key life and employability skills.
“There is a link between areas of social deprivation and a person’s chances of surviving a cardiac arrest. Those living in these areas are twice as likely to suffer a cardiac arrest and are less likely to receive bystander support. If people are trained even in basic first aid skills, these factors could be greatly reduced. The value of first aid skills cannot be ignored, they quite literally save lives.”
Chief executive of the Gannochy Trust, Carol Downie, said: “The trust makes significant contributions to a wide variety of charitable causes and community projects around the country and we are pleased to support St Andrew’s First Aid and the BandAge schools project. Our donation will help with the expansion of BandAge and see valuable first aid skills being taught in more schools and communities across the west of Scotland.”
The BandAge project also tackles difficult subjects such as gang violence and knife crime. The hope is that if pupils understand the devastating consequences knife wounds can have, they will avoid being part of the culture. The skills pupils learn from BandAge give them the tools to follow a positive path and leave a lasting impact within their school and wider community.
