David Lloyd Leisure, Europe’s premier health, sports and leisure group, has been voted Heart Safe Gym of the Year, recognising its investment in life-saving equipment and staff training for its clubs.
Organised by the charity Hand on Heart, which aims to prevent deaths of young people who die due to a sudden cardiac arrest, the Heart Safe awards are the UK’s first to celebrate organisations which invest in ‘heart safe’ environments and individuals who have saved lives while at work or leisure.
David Lloyd Leisure, which has invested in defibrillators for all of its 81 UK clubs and 10 in Europe and provides a regular training programme for staff to use the life-saving equipment, was presented with the accolade by TV presenter and comedian Paddy McGuiness at a ceremony at the Radisson Blue Edwardian Manchester Hotel on Thursday 10 October.
Caleb Brown, of David Lloyd Leisure’s health and safety team, who was a finalist in the Heart Safe Trainer of the Year award category, said: “We are absolutely delighted to have won the Heart Safe Gym of the Year award, which is fantastic recognition for the significant work the company has carried out to ensure all of our clubs are equipped and our teams trained to save lives.
“Since installing defibrillators in David Lloyd Leisure clubs 15 years ago, they have been used by our staff to save nearly 100 lives. Each year, nearly 2,000 team members are trained to use this equipment, in addition to their first aid and CPR qualifications. We believe that our success rate in using defibrillators is among the highest in the world for saving lives of individuals who suffer a cardiac arrest out of hospital.”
Gina Harris, fundraising manager for Hand on Heart, said: “We’re so thrilled at Hand on Heart to have been able to create and host an event which awards those who contribute to making their local community Heart Safe. Each winner and nominee fully deserves their recognition and we hope to continue this tradition in celebrating these inspirational people who are passionate about creating Heart Safe environments.”