St Mary’s CPR & Defibrillator Training

Earlier this week, on Monday 14 September, Defibs4Bristol founder Simon Brookes spent the morning at St Mary’s on Mariner’s Drive, delivering CPR and defibrillator training to members of the community.

This wasn’t Simon’s first visit to St Mary’s. Defibs4Bristol installed its 19th defibrillator at the church in February 2022, after identifying a need for a second publicly accessible defibrillator in the Stoke Bishop area. The installation was supported by donations from local residents following a door-to-door appeal.

St Mary’s has also hosted Defibs4Bristol training before, including a community CPR and defibrillator awareness session in June 2025, bringing together local residents from Stoke Bishop and members of the Fishpool Hill community in Brentry.

The session gave those attending the opportunity to learn more about what to do if someone suffers a cardiac arrest, including how to perform CPR and how to use a defibrillator.

For Defibs4Bristol, training is an important part of the work we do. Having more publicly accessible defibrillators across Bristol is vital, but it is just as important that people feel confident enough to step forward and help when an emergency happens.

We were also very grateful to receive a £75 donation from St Mary’s following the session, along with a further £10 donation from one of those attending.

Another attendee told Simon that each Christmas he chooses a charity to receive the money he would otherwise have spent on presents, and that this year he plans to support Defibs4Bristol. He also offered to help spread the word about our work through his customers.

Support like this makes a real difference to what we are able to do across Bristol, whether that is providing training, helping existing defibrillator sites or supporting the installation of more life-saving equipment across the city.

A huge thank you to everyone at St Mary’s for the warm welcome, for taking part in the training and for their continued support of Defibs4Bristol over the years. From helping make the original defibrillator installation possible to continuing to host training and support our work, St Mary’s has been a valued part of what we do in the local community.

If your community group, workplace or organisation would like to find out more about CPR and defibrillator training, please get in touch with us.