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Following an introduction by our partners at the Joe Humphries Memorial Trust (JHMT), we caught up with Harborough Town Football Club (HTFC) to find out about the work they’re doing to make sure everyone at their club can be a lifesaver. 

Entrance sign for Harborough Town Football Club, in front of a car park and clubhouse

Motivation

Harborough Town's chair of trustees, Siobhan Brewin, started volunteering with the club in 2017. In 2022 she quit her job in corporate banking and committed three days a week to supporting the club. 

Siobhan’s son played for the club. At 14, he was diagnosed with having an abnormality in his heart and took some time away from sport to ensure he was safe to return.

This acted as a big motivator for Siobhan to start discussions around cardiac health, ensuring people in the club had the skills and equipment to react in a cardiac emergency, and encourage all parents and carers to access ‘C-R-Y screenings’ for their children. 

Cardiac Risk in the Young (C-R-Y) is a free mobile pop-up screening service that tests young people aged 14-35 years for heart abnormalities or defects. This can help them to secure medical support before any unpredictable emergencies occur.

HTFC's experiences

The club had around 40 youth teams and five senior teams back in 2017. Siobhan’s mission was to get as many of their participants through C-R-Y screening as possible. She engaged with C-R-Y, with a view to fundraising enough to pay for their mobile unit to come to the club for the day.

But then the pandemic hit and all activities at the club were suspended. When the club reopened, their fundraising mission remained on pause to enable a focus on getting the club and its facilities back up and running as quickly as possible.

During this time, one participant suffered a cardiac arrest on the pitch during a privately hired session. Siobhan and other colleagues were called and attended with the club’s defibrillator to try and save his life.

Another participant, who had recently undergone emergency first aid training, immediately began CPR and then used the AED (automated external defibrillator) to shock his team-mate. Others made emergency calls and ran to the road to later direct the ambulance. First responders at the neighbouring RAF base came and took over the resuscitation efforts.

After two more rounds of shocks, the participant was breathing again. Following a few days in a coma, he became conscious and has since made a full recovery. Read his full story.

General view of corner flags at a grassroots footbal game

What next?

The urgency for fundraising became even greater: with 2,000 young people coming through the gates every week, the club didn’t want this to happen again. 

A generous, anonymous sponsor donated £5,000 to support the first C-R-Y screening on site. The club had 100 children tested; all the sessions were booked out within two hours. 

Since then, C-R-Y screening sessions have become an annual occurrence at the club. In 2023 the screening identified six children (out of 100) with cardiac issues in need of investigation. They aim to continue this screening, despite the increasing costs of securing the van to come on site.

So far, their anonymous sponsor has continued to provide the majority of this funding, and the club have committed to raising a further £1,500 to support this potentially lifesaving measure. 

In addition to the screening, HTFC require all of their team, including 120 coaches, casual staff, and stewards, to complete the Joe Humphries Memorial Trust's free training every year. Their stewards proudly wear badges to help visibly identify them as lifesavers at both home and away fixtures. 

During SADS Awareness Week in 2023, HTFC put their under-18 team through the JHMT training to increase the number of lifesavers at the club and beyond into the local community. 

Logo of Harborough Town Football Club

In 2024, now with 63 teams, the club's ambition is to be the safest place to play and watch football.

HTFC now have four defibrillators (AEDs). These are located at the front of the club, inside the clubhouse, on the side of the pitches, and with the first team’s physiotherapist (mobile AED).

The club have also reviewed their sign-up forms and now obtain further medical information to ensure the right provision is on site for every member. 

What can you do?

The club’s top tips for other organisations:

1
Get an AED
And make sure everyone knows where it is and how to use it. JHMT have lots of guidance on purchasing an AED.
2
Get training
Reach out to JHMT to access their free training.
3
Share fundraising
Twin with another local club or group to split your fundraising efforts to enable the C-R-Y mobile unit to come to your area.