HEART charity HeartSWell South West will be pitching up at Tavistock Pannier Market on Friday, March 18 in a bid to raise awareness of the work that they do.

HeartSWell is committed to supporting heart patients, their partners and carers across the West Country, raising funds through a variety of events, so that the charity is able to continue to provide support to heart patients, as well as a variety of businesses in the South West, by issuing them a defibrillator.

Tavistock Pannier Market received a defibrillator earlier last year in order to support the local Tavistock community.

From research carried out by The British Heart Foundation, it has been revealed that heart attacks kill 1,700 people prematurely each year in the South West. It has also been estimated that more than 22,000 people under the age of 75 across the UK had suffered a fatal heart attack, in 2014.

David Wells, trustee of HeartSWell South West said; ‘The figures issued by The British Heart Foundation clearly show why having a defibrillator in every community is so vital.

‘Should an incident arise, businesses can be the first point of contact ahead of the emergency services arriving, which has proven to save lives. Here at HeartSWell, we have currently issued around 30 defibrillators in the last six months to local businesses including Yelverton Golf Club, Fort Stamford Health and Fitness Club, Frank Elford Sports Shop and VW Murray’s Plymouth.’

David Wells will be selling HeartSWell merchandise on a stall at Tavistock Pannier Market to raise money to go to the defibrillator project, with information for people wanting to know more about the charity and how they can get involved.

For more information about HeartSWell, visit www.heartswell.org.uk