Cricket Club becomes heartsafe with the help of JHMT

A community cricket club has installed a new defibrillator with the support of a local heart charity.

Leicester Ivanhoe Cricket Club, together with Leicester Forest East Tennis Club and the Old Newtonians Rugby Club, has funded the new public access defibrillator ( PAD). The PAD is sited so it's easily accessible to all three neighbouring sports clubs on their adjacent Hinckley Road sites.

The external cabinet which will keep the defibrillator safe has been funded by the Joe Humphries Memorial Trust (JHMT), which works with sports clubs and community groups to raise awareness of sudden heart deaths, particularly in young people.

The JHMT is a local charity which was set up in memory of Leicester teenager Joe Humphries, who collapsed and died while out jogging near his family home in Rothley. Joe was a victim of sudden arrhythmic death syndrome (SADS) – a group of lethal heart diseases which can cause sudden cardiac death in young people.

The Trust works closely with schools, sports clubs and community groups across the city and county to raise awareness and for a better understanding of sudden, unexpected death in young people (SADS), to ensure more people have key CPR skills and know how to use a defibrillator and that more PADs are available within communities.

Club members at the Leicester Forest East Tennis and the Old Newtonians Rugby Club have already taken part in Joe's Mini HeartStart for Sports, a JHMT training programme which aims to ensure sports club members – including players, officials and volunteers – know how to use a defibrillator and can perform CPR in an emergency. A session for the members of the Ivanhoe Cricket Club is planned to take place in April 2022, when the club returns to prepare for the new cricket season.

Jon Beaumont, President of Leicester Ivanhoe Cricket Club, said: "We're very pleased to now have a defib on site and to join so many other Leicestershire cricket clubs in becoming heartsafe. It fits in with our declared policy of providing members and visitors to our Club with a safe, welcoming and inclusive environment. While we hope we will never have to use the training we have had from the JHMT, if an emergency happens, we will be prepared."

The Leicester Ivanhoe Cricket Club was founded in 1873 but did not move onto the present Hinckley Road site until 1947. Currently the club consists of circa fifty senior playing members, there are around thirty "juniors" and about twenty purely social members; about one hundred in total.

Steve Humphries from the JHMT said: "Congratulations to Ivanhoe Cricket Club for all their hard work behind the scenes to help create a heartsafe environment for club members, visiting teams and Leicester Forest East Tennis Club and the Old Newtonians Rugby Club.

"The work goes on to create a heartsafe culture across the wider Leicestershire sporting community, including cricket, local football, rugby and other community sports clubs and groups. Sudden cardiac arrest can strike anyone, anywhere, anytime and of any age, including seemingly fit and healthy young people. It's vitally important everyone learns CPR and knows how to use a defibrillator – and that defibrillators are readily available in case of a cardiac emergency. Being prepared is key."

You can follow the Trust on Facebook at facebook.com/JHMTorguk and Twitter @JHMTorguk.