As our business grows, we are keen to ‘give back’ to the communities we serve and this is why, in 2017, we launched our social commitment projects.
The inaugural year was a great success, and in 2018 we have built on this to create projects which achieve our aim to save more lives across the world. Volunteer Heroes is our National/International project, whilst ‘Saving Lives in Corwen’ sees us support local initiatives.
Volunteer Heroes:
Ruth Lee Ltd Volunteer Heroes provides support to volunteer rescue teams around the world. We know that many rescue teams are made up of volunteers and that therefore, fundraising is a vital part of their finances.
Teams to receive funding in 2018 included volunteer firefighters, water rescue teams, lifeguards, and search and rescue teams too. It was clear during the process of selecting recipients that overwhelmingly, a desire to do the best possible job, with passion and integrity was apparent in all teams who applied.
Below a list of teams who we supported in 2018.
National (UK) Volunteer Heroes 2018:
• Aberdyfi Search & Rescue Team
• Oxfordshire Lowland Search & Rescue
• South Shields Volunteer Life Brigade
International Volunteer Heroes 2018:
• Port Lincoln State Emergency Service (Australia)
• Gymnasium Centro Studi e Formazione (Italy)
• Order of Malta Ambulance Corp, Sligo Unit (Ireland)
• Swift Water Rescue Team Toscana (Italy)
• Associação Humanitária dos Bombeiros Voluntários De Cacilhas (Portugal)
• Search and Rescue Assistance in Disasters International Resilience Team
In 2018 we received a high number of applicants and whilst we would love to help everyone, we had to make some very tough decisions eventually settling on the teams listed above. However, all applicants are welcome to re-apply for 2019.
Local Projects – Saving Lives in Corwen
We are proud to be part of the local community, sourcing local suppliers where possible and finding talented individuals to join our team of dedicated staff.
It was therefore important for us when considering our social commitment, that this encompassed the local community too.
Heart Start Equipment
In 2018 we were pleased to purchase and install a second defibrillator. In 2017 this was donated to the town of Corwen and our second unit has been located at the Glyndyfrdwy Village Hall, close to our new premises Lambert House.
When donating this unit to the village, we worked with the fantastic charity Welsh Hearts to supply free ‘heart-start’ training for local people. The sessions were well attended by the local community, who will hopefully feel more confident if ever the need arises for them to administer CPR or use the defibrillator.
Life Saving Courses
In 2018 we worked closely with the team at Corwen Leisure Centre to design a programme of courses designed to save lives in the local community.
Ruth Lee Ltd donated funds to the Leisure Centre, allowing them to purchase a fantastic First Aid bundle from the RLSS (Royal Life Saving Society), and the team are now using this to deliver courses to local people.
So far, this has included a Baby CPR course for the ‘Mums and Baby’ swimming group, and the Spring 2019, the team at Corwen Leisure will be running two further courses, “Save a Child’s Life” and “Save an Adult’s Life”. They are also using the equipment on a monthly basis to imrpove staff training and also with children who attend their ‘Rookie Lifeguard’ sessions.
Andrew Roberts, Duty Manager at Corwen Leisure said,
“Feedback from the CPR workshop was very positive and many of those taking part said that they will be attending the save a child’s life workshop too. It wasn’t just parents who attended, but grandparents also – they found this very useful as they said they quite regularly look after their grandchildren.”