By Jessica Anstice
Berwick Artists Society kindly donated a defibrillator to the Old Cheese Factory in Berwick on Thursday, 29 November.
“A lot of the time, the Old Cheese Factory premises is used by people who are elderly,” Berwick Artists Society secretary Helen Anderson said.
“People are going to be trained to use it in case of an emergency.”
Berwick Artists Society president Tony Purcell handed the defibrillator over to City of Casey Mayor Amanda Stapledon at the presentation.
It will not only benefit the Old Cheese Factory, but by the wider community as well.
The Berwick Artists Society was founded in 1992 and has a current membership of 90.
The society meets in the Old Cheese Factory both weekly and monthly, painting and drawing self-help but mutually supported activities.
“A recent review of progress which included their vulnerabilities revealed a weakness in their ability to meet medical emergencies in the event of heart attack enquiries with the old cheese factory on whether or not they had a defibrillator and if not where they able to obtain one,” Berwick Artists Society president Tony Purcell said.
“The answer to both questions was in the negative
“The necessity for a defibrillator to be readily available prompted our society to purchase one that they use with our own funds and some fundraising activities and further in view of the Old Cheese Factory high community usage to make it available to the community at large.”
