Selkirk heart disease charity Scottish H.A.R.T. has been awarded a £500 cheque from the Eildon Trust.

The donation follows work earlier this year by Eildon Housing Association staff to secure a defibrillator with the charity as part of the ‘Healthy Working Lives’ initiative.

The defibrillator is now housed at the front entrance of Eildon’s head office, and is available for use in the Ettrick Riverside area.

Dinah Faulds, chairman of Eildon Staff Association, said: “Once Eildon staff were aware of the work of Scottish H.A.R.T. in distributing defibrillators, our Staff Association approached the Eildon Trust to ask if they could give a donation. We now have the defibrillator in place and 8 Eildon staff have received training in its use, with other colleagues attending awareness-raising for these life saving devices.”

Wilma Gunn MBE, founder of Scottish H.A.R.T., was delighted to receive a cheque for £500 from the Eildon Trust, courtesy of Trustee Trevor Burrows.

Trevor Burrows said: “This donation will go a little way towards the amazing work Wilma started over twenty years ago, when she began raising funds following the tragic death of her son Cameron from Cardiomyopathy.”

Wilma confirmed that her aim is for free heart screening for all young athletes in the UK, so that their heart condition can be checked prior to playing sport.

She said: “The Scottish Government is now running a pilot scheme at Hampden started under Professor Stuart Hillis, where they are screening all sports people going into competitive sport, all the footballers from 16 years of age, and I genuinely feel that this is a must for the rest of the country.”

The Eildon Trust is a related organisation of the Eildon Group which was established to raise money and provide grants and funds to support local community initiatives in the Borders.

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