Littleport ambulance volunteers hanging out to take part in charity abseil

On Saturday, 25th March if you find yourself near Ely College, you might be forgiven for thinking that people actually fly.

That’s because a group of former College students are teaming up with community groups to host a charity abseil down their old school building - the soon to be demolished Needham’s Tower – to raise money for charity.

Community first responders (CFRs) Barbara Knott, Lesley Marsh and Richard Grosvenor, who all hail from the Littleport CFR group, joined up to the cause immediately. The volunteer life-savers, trained by the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) to attend medical emergencies in their area, are hoping to raise awareness of the important role they play in their community, whilst raising much needed funding for defibrillators (AEDs), kits and equipment for the ‘Ely Cluster’ (encompassing the Littleport, Ely, Soham, Witchford, Wicken and Cottenham CFR groups).

The event will take place at the Ely College from 9am-5pm, with the first abseil starting at 10am. There will also be a raffle, bouncy castle and some ‘donation stations’. The responders themselves will be on hand to teach basic life support skills like CPR and defibrillation throughout the day.

Barbara Knott, co-ordinator for Littleport CFRs, said: “I’ve never done anything like this before; it scares the wind out of me!

"But I’m willing to give it a go because it’s for such a great cause.”

In the build up to the event, £120 has already been raised for Little Miracles and Ely CFR groups, but Barbara is hoping that total will scale to the dizzy heights of £1,200.

If you are interested in donating, you can do so via the team’s Crowdfunding page: http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/ely-reunion-charity-abseil.

You can even sponsor individual abseilers. If this interests you, contact Barbara at
b-hunt@sky.com and she’ll be more than happy to show you how.

For more information about volunteering as a CFR, visit http://www.eastamb.nhs.uk/join-the-team/community-first-responders or email responderadmin@eastamb.nhs.uk

Little Miracles is a charity that supports families that have children with additional needs, disabilities and life-limiting conditions. Just like everyone else these children need a place to play, laugh and create friendships – Little Miracles provides this whilst the families are able to access the advice, support and care that they deserve. For more information on what they do, please visit their webpage here: http://www.littlemiraclescharity.org.uk/.