Royal Life Saving Society UK’s Restart a Heart campaign

Date posted 03 Oct 2025
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In support of the Royal Life Saving Society UK’s Restart a Heart campaign, our leisure centres are proud to host a series of free community events to raise awareness and teach vital lifesaving skills. On Thursday 16 October 2025, we’re inviting the public to join us for hands-on CPR and defibrillator awareness sessions at Haydon and Link Centre.

These sessions will be led by Cheryl Pottinger, our Area Swim Lead, who will be running displays and staff demonstrations:

12pm-1pm at Haydon Leisure Centre

2pm-3pm at Link Centre

Whether you're a regular gym-goer, a parent, carer, or simply a concerned citizen, this is your chance to learn how to save a life.

 

Why it matters

  • Around 100,000 people experience a cardiac arrest outside hospital each year in the UK.
  • 80% of these happen at home — quick action by bystanders is often the key to survival.
  • Every minute without CPR reduces a person’s chance of survival by 10%.
  • Yet almost half of UK adults don’t feel confident performing CPR.
  • By attending, you’ll gain the confidence and basic skills needed to take life-saving action in an emergency.

 

What to expect

At each centre, Cheryl will guide attendees through:

  • Live CPR demonstrations
  • How to use a defibrillator (AED)
  • Displays with practical tips and myth-busting facts
  • Resources and take-home materials provided by the Royal Life Saving Society UK

No booking is required - just come along, get involved, and empower yourself with the knowledge to save a life.

 

Be part of the change

We’re proud to support Restart a Heart and play our part in improving survival rates from cardiac arrests in our community. With help from experienced staff like Cheryl, we hope to give more people the skills and confidence to act when it counts.

Let’s come together as a community - because the more people who know CPR, the safer we all are.

 

For more information:

Email the Link Centre team: link@gll.org

Visit the RLSS website: Restart a Heart is coming – why you should get involved? | Royal Life Saving Society UK ( RLSS UK )