Members of Wrexham Rural Community First Responders recently visited the drop off point run by the British Ironwork Centre near Oswestry which sponsors the collection and onward transportation of medical consumables to Ukraine.
This is the second donation co-ordinated by Wrexham Rural CFRs`, with kit being contributed by CFR teams from Wrexham and across North Wales. The first load was transported directly to the front line in Ukraine earlier in the year by British military veterans based on the Wirral.
The Wrexham Rural CFR Team has arranged the donations of a significant amount of specialist resuscitation and trauma kit, plus associated response bags which will help to keep medical equipment in a clean and serviceable condition, providing much needed support to both civilian and army medics. British Ironwork Centre is gathering donations together ready for transport to Ukraine early in the year.
Pictured are Terry Brownhill and Effie Cadwallader of Wrexham Rural Community First Responders, with Clive Knowles and Alice-Rose Langford of the British Ironwork Centre, Oswestry.
Wrexham Rural Community First Responders has had a dedicated, liveried response car since December 2020 attending emergency calls in the Wrexham and surrounding areas on a regular basis.
The statistics below demonstrate how effectively the vehicle has been used over the last 3 years, attending a total of 962 emergency calls,covering a distance of 19,088 miles. It has been, and continues to be a very worthwhile and valuable asset.
MONTH HOURS JOBS MILES
BOOKED ON ATTENDED TRAVELLED
2021 2022 2023 2021 2022 2023 2021 2022 2023
January 175 153 134 19 29 20 371 603 517
February 177 122 155 26 29 30 460 524 503
March 202 69 177 20 11 27 466 214 491
April 192 110 117 26 22 22 551 416 373
May 172 137 170 32 23 33 685 471 525
June 164 137 144 27 26 24 813 479 531
July 178 199 174 33 35 35 711 641 593
August 167 184 169 50 25 37 938 497 734
September 116 202 143 22 39 23 418 671 521
October 149 103 104 35 23 27 571 391 608
November 142 170 131 32 28 22 631 559 397
December 141 128 150 27 23 16 577 637 240
TOTALS 1975 1714 1618 349 313 300 7192 6103 5793
Monthly
Averages 165
143 147 29
26
26
599 509
503
A long-serving community first responder who regularly deals with life-threatening medical emergencies in the south Wrexham area has been honoured with the highest award to an individual volunteer by the Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust
Effie Cadwallader, a member of the Wrexham Rural CFR group https://www.wrexhamruralcfr.co.uk has attended more than a thousand 999 incidents since she began volunteering with the service five years ago.
Now she has been named ‘Community First Responder of the Year’ from a shortlist drawn up by the Welsh service’s awards committee, which considered hundreds of nominations put forward by the public on behalf of many of the 460 CFRs across Wales.
At an awards ceremony in South Wales, Dr Brendan Lloyd, WAST’s executive medical director, commended Effie for her “excellence in the pre-hospital field where she has demonstrated an outstanding commitment and contribution to her locality”.
Effie was unable to attend the ceremony and received the news of the prestigious accolade while celebrating a ’big birthday’ on holiday abroad with her family.
“Hearing about the award on my birthday was such a lovely surprise,” she said. “It really was the icing on the cake to complete a wonderful day with my family.”
Effie covers a wide area around Chirk, stretching from Tregeiriog, Glyn Ceiriog and Llangollen in the west, north as far as Penycae, Marchwiel and Overton, and east to Hanmer and Bronington.
“Joining WAST has been a truly wonderful experience,” she said.
“The care and encouragement given to the volunteers across Wales is second to none, and the warmth and friendship of every member of the service from the top down is very much appreciated by the volunteers. It’s a great honour to be recognised for the work I’ve done in Wales, and I want to thank all my colleagues for the exceptional support they’ve given me.”
Above CFR of the Year Effie Cadwallader receiving her award from Linda Williams of the Welsh Ambulance Service Trust, with friends and colleagues of the Wrexham Rural CFRs.
Below the cake made by Christine Bowen celebrating Effies's award.
WREXHAM RURAL COMMUNITY FIRST RESPONDERS RECEIVE GENEROUS DONATION
Wrexham Rural Community First Responders are delighted to have received a generous donation from Southsea residents Christine and Paul Bowen.
Paul and Christine recently arranged a craft event at Glan yr Afon, Southsea, Wrexham, the proceeds from which will support the CFR group in maintaining and replacing key items of equipment during the coming year.
Though the CFRs` primary role is to attend local emergencies tasked by the Welsh Ambulance Service, members also offer community training events around the area, familiarising groups in the practice of CPR and the use of Public Access Defibrillators. These activities require training equipment which the CFR group purchases itself.
Anyone in the north east Wales area interested in receiving this free training can contact the group by email: admin@wrexhamruralcfr.co.uk
Photo shows Wrexham CFR Treasurer Adam Salomonson receiving a cheque for £170 from Christine Bowen
Crud Yr Awel, Llangollen, LL20 7BG.