COMMUNITY groups in Callington are working to make the community a safer place by delivering vital first aid training and defibrillators.

Callington Lions and the Rotary Club of Callington joined forces to deliver first aid training to children in school last year.

Now that programme of training has been rolled out to outlying areas with older children gaining recognised qualifications they can add to the CVs as they sit their upcoming GCSEs.

The initiative began in 2023 when first responder Peter Salisbury started delivering first aid for schools courses. Fast forward several years, and Peter, who is a Callington Rotary member, now runs a company qualified to deliver comprehensive first aid training in schools in Callington and the outlying parishes on behalf of the collaboration.

So far Peter has worked with schools in Callington, Stoke Climsland, Cooper Valley, Calstock, Harrowbarrow, Carnglaze and Lewannick and Saltash primary schools, training more than 600 children.

Peter said: “The purpose of the training is to Increase the confidence and knowledge of what to do in a medical emergency.”

Recent training at Callington Primary School saw Years 5 and 6 taking part in an awareness training session about staying safe, what to do in an emergency and how to correctly contact emergency services.

Year 5 pupils learnt how to place someone in the recovery position, how to help somebody who is choking and to stop bleeding including catastrophic bleeding, while Year 6 were trained on how to use a defibrillator and give CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation).

At Callington Community College 190 students undertook refresher training of the content taught to them by Peter at the end of primary school, with 27 additional students undertaking a basic life support assessment, while 70 students from Years 10 and 12 at Mount Kelly received student first aid training for their Duke of Edinburgh Awards. Peter has also trained sixth form students at Launceston College.

A spokesperson for the collaboration said: “This initiative was so well-received that schools across South East Cornwall and further afield jumped at the chance for their pupils to be trained.

“It has been extended into secondary schools where the older children have the option of gaining a fully recognised first aid qualification above and beyond the awareness training. This has so far been rolled out to Callington Community College, Launceston College and Mount Kelly.”

The collaboration didn’t stop there. The team are also addressing the lack of public access defibrillators in the town which became apparent as the training programme was rolled out.

A new initiative, the Tamar Valley Defibrillator Scheme will be installing five new defibrillators in the town, and replacing one at the town hall, to ensure no one is more than a two-minute drive or ten minutes’ walk away from a life-saving device.

Peter added: “Having defibrillators available in community areas give the young people we have trained the tools to help people in their community.”

All five defibrillators will be available to the public 24/7 and are being funded by two private charities, Callington Lions, Rotary Club of Callington and The Cornwall Bakery.