Handcross

I have heard: that the contractors have started work in the Parish Hall ahead of the closure on 20 December. If you have booked the Hall for an event before then, please do not worry as any work that starting now is being done around all existing bookings. I am also aware that rumours are going round that the prices will be going up to pay for this work. On behalf of the Management Committee, I can confirm that there are no plans to do this. Through past fund raising efforts when it was thought we were in line to get a new hall, there are sufficient funds to cover the cost of this work in full, so please rest assured if you are thinking about booking an event once the work has been done, it will be at the same price as this year. If you have any questions or concerns about the future of the Hall, please feel free to get in touch with me either by email (see above) or give me a ring on 07887 535638.

If you are a regular reader: of this column you will be aware that the village is in the enviable position of having two ‘AEDs’ – defibrillators to you and me! – in the village: one outside the Hardware Shop and the other on the wall outside the Royal Oak on the Horsham Road. Last week saw two groups of eight people attending a course on basic life support and the use of the AEDs, arranged very kindly by Ian who was instrumental in getting the devises with help from others in the village. The course was very informative and lively with some excellent practical demonstrations by members of each group. The important message is that these devices are there and available 24/7. If they are needed then you simply get the device out of the box on the wall, open the lid and it will immediately talk you through everything. It will not shock someone who doesn’t needed to be shocked, and tells you when it is about to deliver, when to resume CPR and calls “PRESS PRESS PRESS” at the correct intervals of about half a second. The participants learned that once the patient has been diagnosed as unresponsive CPR MUST commence immediately while the AED is fetched and the emergency services called. The effectiveness of the AED as a lifesaving tool has been demonstrated recently in the village when a delivery driver who went into arrest locally was shocked back to life (not by one of our two) 3 times before the air ambulance arrived by which time he was sitting up talking. I have been told that here are some very good You Tube “walk through” videos available that are worth having a look at to show you how straight forward it is to use these devises so if you are spending time on your laptops or computers just browsing, take some time to find one of these as you never know when you might need to use one. Thank you once again to everyone involved in raising the funds to buy and to install them.

Next week: I will let you know the opening times over Christmas and the New Year of the various shops in the village along with the bin days. If you know of any other information that people should be aware of over the holiday period, please do let me know and I will pass it on.