Community
Keeping Oswestry alive
All defibrillators in Oswestry are now working and up to date thanks to a county councillor and first responders. The campaign ‘Keeping Oswestry Alive’ was the idea of the Oswestry Life’s Director David Lee-Birch, who at the time was the manager of the now defunct Oswestry & Border Chronicle. David said “Sadly in January 2011 I lost my mum from a massive heart attack which came totally out of the blue. Even though paramedics were on the scene in minutes and nothing further could have been done, I wanted something good to come out of a devastating event, and hopefully give someone else a fighting chance. “The campaign was launched in 2013, and in just a few months we raised our target of £6,000. “There was a remarkable response to our appeal from readers and advertisers, we also had the full support of the British Heart Foundation who part-funded the project. Readers came into the office bringing cash, and staff and their family members did everything from a marathon, bag packing and a sponsored swim.” The result was six defibrillators installed throughout Oswestry’s town centre. Sadly, since the newspaper closed and the publisher moved from the town, the defibrillators had become unmaintained with no one taking responsibility for their service and upkeep. Thanks to Councillor Paul Milner, 8
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Councillor Paul Milner and David Lee-Birch, alongside the defibrillator positioned on the Powis Hall Market.
who has worked with the town’s Community First Responders, all pads have been replaced, faults rectified, and codes clearly marked on the boxes. Paul said, “The reason I got involved was because a few months ago I noticed that the numbers on several of the defibrillator boxes had become unreadable These numbers are vitally important as they are needed to give to the emergency services to facilitate a keypad code to enable you to open the box to gain access to the defibrillator itself.
defibrillator located across the road at M&S. Through the quick thinking of the member of staff of The Oswestrian and West Midlands Ambulance Service the defibrillator was used, and the man’s life was saved.”
The defibrillators are located on the outside of the following locations in Oswestry’s town centre: Powis Hall Market, Bailey Head
“I contacted the West Midlands Ambulance Service who then put me in contact with Mr Steve Gatley from the Oswestry Community First Responders. After an initial meeting with Mr Gatley, he found that nearly all the pads use-by dates had expired in 2016 and several other faults were also found during the inspections. On finding this out all the pads have been replaced and the other faults have been rectified. In addition, all the defibrillators are now inspected on a two weekly basis to make sure they are in working order.
Woodhead Sales and Lettings, Leg Street
“A gentleman was in The Oswestrian on Festival Square about 12 months ago when he suffered a heart attack. A member of staff recognised his symptoms and called 999. That person was then advised there was a
There are other defibrillators in some of the towns major stores, but these are only accessible when the stores are open. There are also defibrillators in most of Oswestry’s surrounding villages.
M&S loading bay by the side of the Memorial Hall, Former Shropshire Star office on Salop Road, On the Parish Church’s Parish Centre which is located halfway along the Broad walk, this defibrillator was paid for and maintained jointly between the Parish Church, Oswestry Tennis Club & St Oswalds Bowling Club, At the rear of the Wynnstay Hotel on the wall of the gymnasium. The Senior Citizens Club, Lorne Street
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Considering Your Next Step? Your home tells your story and when you are ready for your next chapter Halls are here to help.
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Some like it hot! Its time to start planning your mulling operations, mulled wine and mulled cider are absolutely the best way to keep the cold out at this time of year, and are always a huge hit at Christmas and New Year gatherings.
Thai Green noodle bowl Recipe courtesy of Andros Nutritious Delicious
Nutritious Delicious is a Vegan Certified range of coconut milk yoghurts now available in Tesco. There are many brands of readymade Thai Green Curry Paste to choose from, so if you intend making this recipe fully vegan do check the label for ingredients, as some contain fish sauce. Serves 2
INGREDIENTS
1 tbsp vegetable oil 2 shallots, finely chopped 2 tbsp Thai Green Curry Paste 2 x 100g pots Nutritious Delicious Natural 300ml coconut water 1 tbsp smooth peanut butter 100g courgette, sliced 50g long-stemmed broccoli, chopped Small bunch fresh coriander or Thai basil Grated zest and juice of 1 lime 50g young pak choi or spinach leaves 150g cooked rice noodles
METHOD
Heat the oil in a deep saucepan and fry the shallots until golden and soft. Add the curry paste and cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes. Stir in the Nutritious Delicious, coconut water and peanut butter. Bring to the boil, stirring until smooth. Drop the courgette and broccoli into the pan and simmer for a further 3-4 minutes until the vegetables are just tender. Finely chop half the coriander and stir into the soup with the lime zest and juice to taste. Divide the pak choi and rice noodles between two soup bowls. Spoon the hot soup on top. Serve topped with the remaining coriander.
I mull thousands of pints of cider and wine at this time of year to help everyone at Oswestry Christmas Live and the Christmas Light switch on keep up their festive cheer, even when the weather lets us down. There are a few things to remember when mulling. • You need to get the wine or cider really hot but be careful not to scald it, it turns it bitter and ruins the flavour • You need to serve it in something that can handle the heat, standard glassware will shatter, use latte glasses, mugs or insulated paper cups • As your spices cook they turn bitter – so don’t overcook them and add a little brown sugar and plenty of orange slices to compensate • My core spices are always ginger, cinnamon and cloves, without these you are lost! • When mulling at home, be careful, by the time you are mulling the third or fourth pan you may be merry. Far safer to mull in advance and keep it warm in a slow cooker!! Lots of you have already been in to see us about specialist alcohol orders, if you haven’t been in yet please make sure you get order for artisan spirits and beers in by the end of the first week of December so we can be sure to meet your needs. Hampers and gift packs are available to order as usual too. Grace Goodlad, The Bailey Head
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