Staffordshire tennis clubs are to benefit from life-saving training after digger giant JCB served up a £500 donation to support an ongoing first aid programme.

Staffordshire Tennis, which supports 48 tennis clubs across the county, is creating a series of first aid cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) hubs which will help train coaches and players in life-saving skills. The hubs will be supported by First Responder Chris Godwin who will arrange regular sessions for clubs, coaches and the wider community to provide vital skills needed to deliver early intervention and CPR treatment.

Martyn Rock Tennis Development Coordinator at Staffordshire Tennis, said:

“Unfortunately, cardiac incidents can happen anywhere and knowing what to do in those first few seconds is vital - it can literally save a life. As coaches we are all trained in CPR as part of the coaching course."

"However, we realised that it would be beneficial to refresh this knowledge regularly and help raise awareness of the benefits of learning life-saving skills like CPR. We couldn’t be more grateful to JCB for its support in making sure we now have all the equipment needed to provide regular training sessions to support our players and wider tennis community.”

JCB’s donation has gone towards the £2,000 needed to provide training equipment including two CPR mannequins which will help participants to understand what it feels like to deliver CPR, what they need to do and how to make those first few seconds in an emergency count.

Staffordshire Tennis works with the Lawn Tennis Association, the national governing body for tennis, to grow the sport across the county and create opportunities at all levels and ages to play racquet sports. More information on CPR training opportunities and the work Staffordshire Tennis is doing is available here. 

Photo Caption:

Members of Stone Tennis Club take part in the first CPR training session for Staffordshire Tennis.

Pictured left-to-right are Roy Williams Partnership Co-ordinator at Staffordshire Tennis, First Responder Chris Godwin, Graham Cole Chairman of Staffordshire Tennis, Paul Baldwin Chairman of Stone Tennis Club and Clive Paddison Treasurer at Staffordshire Tennis.