Down Guildford Cathedral She Goes!
On 25 September, weather permitting, Yvonne Fox, one of CIA’s Security System Designers, will be throwing caution to the winds and herself off the top of Guildford Cathedral.
Fortunately, she will be attached by rope as she and others abseil 160ft down the side of the Cathedral in an endeavour to raise much needed funds for the St John Surrey Community First Responders.
Yvonne has always quite liked the idea of abseiling – thought it might be fun – so when she read an article in her local newspaper appealing for jumpers on behalf of St John, she knew immediately she was going to do it. Living near Guildford, the Cathedral has long been a familiar landmark so she felt it would be quite special to abseil down it for such a good cause.
St John Ambulance are well known for the work they do at local community events. Less well know, perhaps, is their work as Community First Responders (CFRs). They work in partnership with the Ambulance Service as trained volunteers within the local community to deliver life saving aid until the ambulance arrives. In the four years since they have been volunteering in Surrey, the CFRs have have attended over 1900 incidents and have successfully resuscitated 21 cardiac arrests.
Yvonne says, “None of us knows when we might need a CFR. If someone dials 999 because they’re having, for example, chest pains or breathing difficulties, the ambulance may not be able to get there straight away but the local CFRs can and those critical minutes can make all the difference, literally, between life and death.
“I’m hoping that my abseil will raise at least £150 towards this excellent cause. I must confess, though, I’m a bit nervous about the whole thing so I’m also hoping I won’t be needing my own personal CFR on the day!!”
It costs around £3,000 for a CFR’s kit, £100 for appropriate clothing and £2,000 for the training equipment. If you’d like to help towards this very worthy cause, follow this link to sponsor Yvonne:
