Children from local primary schools, including Midsomer Norton Primary and St Benedict’s Primary School, will be learning all about CPR during October, thanks to help from SunChemical, based in Midsomer Norton. The company has recently donated £1,000 which will purchase a simulation kit, which helps to train doctors and nurses on how to save both babies’ and children’s lives using a simulation doll, providing vital training for children if they are ever faced with an emergency.

Further investigation into the cause by SunChemical’s Well-being committee uncovered the Kids save Lives’ Restart a Heart Day, which takes place next Tuesday, 18th October. It gives thousands of young people the opportunity to learn how to restart the heart of someone who has suffered a cardiac arrest with the support of the British Heart Foundation, St John Ambulance and the British Red Cross, alongside regional Ambulance Services.

The aim of the day is to train more than 100,000 young people in CPR on this particular day alone.

SunChemical is urging other local schools to get involved with the campaign and has been helping Headteachers get on board with the project. Kim Wallace, Management Accountant and member of the Well-being committee at SunChemical, said: “We felt it was important to help provide life-saving skills to our staff, and when we heard about the campaign to get children involved, we wanted to make everyone within the local area aware of such a fantastic initiative. We are looking to get as many schools as possible to join in.”

Alun Randell, Headteacher at Midsomer Norton Primary School, added: “This is a very worthwhile cause, and the fact that it is being promoted by a local company makes it even more so. If we can help raise awareness of general health and what we can do to help in a crisis, then that can only be a good thing. It also supports one of the school’s core values, which is rooted in the community and looking after one another.”

In the UK, less than one in ten people (8.6%) survive a cardiac arrest. In comparison, in parts of Norway, where CPR is taught in schools, the survival rate has soared to an astonishing 25%.

As well as local schoolchildren, SunChemical staff will also be joined by a St John’s Ambulance trainer next week with other UK-wide sites of the company also hoping to take part. Local schools can request a free trainer to come along and teach CPR to students via St John Ambulance volunteers. For details, email: [email protected] or contact Kim Wallace on: 01761 408576.

SunChemical’s Well-being committee are aiming to make a positive difference to staff. Since its formation, it has begun providing fresh fruit and soon, homemade soup in the winter. The canteen has been completely redecorated and there are also oversubscribed yoga classes on site to help with issues such as anxiety, depression and relaxation. This year, staff will be collecting Christmas shoeboxes in aid of the Genesis Trust, which helps the homeless in Bath, and will also be wrapping children’s Christmas presents collected by Eye-Tech IT in aid of Time is Precious. The next project will be to begin making colourful cushions to be donated to the RUH to help make mastectomy patients more comfortable, with fabrics donated by Rose Crafts in Midsomer Norton and printed using SunChemical’s inks. They are also hoping to appeal to members of the community to help with the effort.