Adam Redfern Memorial Fund

07/10/2026

Thank you to Resuscitation Council UK for giving us the opportunity to be included in this reel. It's a really important message.

Cardiac arrest can happen to anyone, at any time and when it does, it is incumbent on all of us to be ready to help the casualty. Their life will literally be in our hands.

Learning what effective CPR looks like, knowing where our nearest defibrillators are and being familiar with how to use one (they are very simple to operate) is something we should all address. 💓

17/09/2026

As promised yesterday, here is our deep-dive report into the subject of publicly-funded, state school defibrillators and their accessibility to local communities. It forms a major strand of our wider HEART 2026 campaign and will be part of our ‘pitch’, when we have the opportunity to present to a group of MPs in London next month.

Please give it a few minutes of your time. Cardiac arrest is something that could affect any one of us, or a loved-one, at any moment in time - without any prior warning. Together with the immediate commencement of CPR, having a fully accessible and properly maintained defibrillator close-by could be difference between life and death. It really is that stark.

Of the 20 local authority areas covered by our analysis, Erewash now stands out like a beacon in terms of the percentage of schools with unregistered defibrillators. This is testament to the work of Adam Thompson MP since we met with him earlier this year. It demonstrates what can be done with focus and commitment to the cause.

16/09/2026

💥 We are delighted to announce that we have been given the opportunity to attend an event on the Parliamentary Estate, in late October, when we will be able to present our HEART 2026 campaign (both its original aims/subsequent observations) and discuss our concerns with a group of cross-party MPs and representatives from the British Heart Foundation.

This is an invitation which we are incredibly honoured and grateful to receive. It will be an important milestone for a project which has consumed many hours of our time. However, if this can be a catalyst for meaningful change on a national level, then Adam’s legacy will stretch far beyond DMU Leicester and the local area.

We are incredibly grateful to everyone who has supported and encouraged us to get this far.

The timing of this opportunity couldn’t be more ideal, as we are about to launch a comprehensive report covering a topic which has progressively become the main focus of this campaign - a deep-dive investigation into publicly funded, state school defibrillators, looking at; non-registration, heavily restricted community access and in some cases, irregular maintenance. The report contains a review of over 1,000 schools across 20 local authorities and offers an eye-opening insight from defibrillator sector professionals, charity volunteers and school staff.

Please look out for it when it is released tomorrow across all of our social media platforms. Please give it a few minutes of your time - the issues highlighted could affect any one of us, or at loved ones, at any moment without any warning.

22/08/2026

22/07/2026

A thought provoking article in today’s Guardian.

Collecting our nearest defibrillator to home would take a round trip in excess of 10 minutes on foot.

How close is yours?

Exclusive: Research shows millions live more than a 1km round trip from 24/7 accessible device

08/07/2026

We are hugely grateful to Adam for sharing this message & all of the work he is doing to drive up registration in Erewash.

Defibrillators (AEDs) which aren't registered are invisible to the emergency services when directing callers in an emergency situation. This significantly reduces their value to the community.

This is important, because alongside immediate CPR, using an AED on a cardiac arrest victim within the first 3-5 minutes can improve survival prospects by over 50%, so having a REGISTERED AED available nearby can be the difference between life and death!

Registration takes 10 minutes to complete on-line & it's free. There really is no excuse not to do it.

Earlier this year, Ian and Christine Redfern came to see me to discuss an issue that could genuinely help save lives.

Their son, Adam, tragically died after suffering a cardiac arrest while out on a run. Since then, they have worked tirelessly through the Adam Redfern Memorial Fund to improve access to Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) and raise awareness of the importance of having them registered.

Although schools have been provided with AEDs, not all of them were registered on the British Heart Foundation's The Circuit – the national network that helps emergency services and members of the public locate the nearest defibrillator in an emergency.

Following our meeting, I contacted the local schools whose AEDs were not registered. I'm really pleased that 10 schools have since signed up, leaving just five still to join the network. That's a brilliant result and a real credit to everyone who has helped make it happen.

If your school, workplace, sports club or community organisation has a defibrillator, I'd encourage you to check whether it's registered on The Circuit. It only takes a few minutes, and it could make all the difference when every second counts.

My thanks to Ian and Christene for everything they continue to do in their son's memory. If you'd like to find out more about their work, you can follow them here: Adam Redfern Memorial Fund

02/07/2026

As we have now reached the half-way point of 2026, here is a full update on our 'Heart' campaign. A review of the successes and frustrations, as well as a look at the body of work still to be done as we enter H2.

Out thanks to everyone who is supporting us as we strive to deliver against our aims.