Buckie Wildcat First Responder duo set take to the skies in fundraising bid
Two volunteers are set to take to the air to raise funds for a life-saving organisation.
A tandem skydive awaits for Buckie Wildcat Community First Responders team members James Watson and Rebecca Thomson later in the year.
The group, which is staffed entirely by volunteers, aim to keep people suffering from cardiac arrests alive until the paramedics arrive, although since becoming Community First Responders this remit has widened. They operate under the auspices of the Scottish Ambulance Service.
Rebecca is the group’s secretary and a volunteer fundraiser while James is one of the Community First Responders (CFR).
Lorna Cameron, from the Wildcats, said: “Rebecca and James wanted to do something a bit different to raise money for us so they’ve decided to jump out of a perfectly serviceable aircraft in September!
“Rebecca’s done more daring fundraisers like bungee jumping before but this will be a first for James.
“There’s no fundraising target in mind - we’ll be grateful for any donations people want to give us.
“We rely entirely on the generosity of the public to pay for the equipment we need. A new CFR is due to join the team at the end of May so the money we raise from the skydive will help pay for the next person to join.
“We’re also looking at investing in training equipment for responding to choking incidents. This will help not only keep our own training up but also add to the community CPR and defibrillator sessions we offer.
“Another thing we’re hoping to buy is a gazebo which we can take with us to events, such as the Buckie Classic Car Show which we’ll be attending. It will allow us to do things like demonstrate CPR techniques and generally raise awareness of what we do.”
The new CFR due to come online soon will bring the team to a total of nine, with Lorna adding that they could do with having another couple on board.
The kit the Wildcats use has to be up to the same standard as that deployed by the Scottish Ambulance Service - something which can add quite considerably to the price tag. The kit bags the team use on their own weigh in at £500 or so, with another £2000 on top of that to completely fill them with life-saving equipment.
The duo are set to undertake their act of derring do on September 6 at Strathallan airfield in Perthshire.
To donate, visit Rebecca and James’ JustGiving page at https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/rebecca-thomson-4?utm_term=yWY245Bzmor via Paypal (friends and family) at paypal.com/paypalme/buckiecfr
To find out more about becoming a CFR or joining the Wildcats’ fundraising team, visit the team’s Facebook page.
The Buckie team cover an area encompassing roughly 200 square miles, from Mosstodloch in the West through to Sandend in the east and down to Keith in the south.
The Wildcats also offer free courses to local community groups in how to perform CPR and use public access defibrillators.
