'We did it thanks to the power of Jamie' - Rugby mum celebrates store's change of heart

A Rugby mum has won a long campaign to get the Heart of England Co-operative Society to move all defibrillators back outside.

The equipment will now be made accessible 24 hours a day at all 25 food stores.

Naomi Issitt, who lost her son Jamie Rees, 18, after he suffered an unexplained cardiac arrest, is on a mission to provide the life-saving equipment to all through her ‘Our Jay’ campaign.

A spokesman for the Heart of England Co-operaive Society said: “We understand that putting the machines inside our stores caused concern. It meant that while they were available from 7am to 10pm seven days a week, there was a gap in night-time coverage.

“In truth, it was a decision taken with the greatest reluctance amid extraordinary circumstances.

“We paid out £30,000 to purchase nearly all the defibrillators ourselves to benefit local communities and all were initially placed in outdoor cabinets. However, we were then horrified by the extent to which they were targeted by criminals. While it is hard to believe thieves could stoop so low, 12 machines were stolen within the first year or so.

“Our insurance excess limits do not cover the cost of new defibrillators and, consequently, the Society paid out a further £19,740 for replacements, bringing our total expense to £50,000,

“We were concerned about sustaining those kinds of losses in the most challenging trading conditions experienced for decades. We felt we had to take action to stem the tide of thefts to avoid being faced with a situation where we could no longer keep funding replacements.

“Recently we have met members of the community concerned about the defibrillators being sited inside our stores, including Councillor Simon Ward and Naomi Rees- Issitt, of the Our Jay Foundation. We fully sympathise with their views and have now identified specialist insurers to help with the situation concerning the defibrillators.

“We are an independent co-operative society founded in Coventry in 1832 and giving back to the community has always been part of our ethos. Our Helping Hearts initiative alone has raised more than £1.2m for worthwhile causes since it was

founded in the year 2000.

“Many local retailers continue to keep defibrillators inside their buildings. We hope the action we have taken shows that we also listen to the local community.”

Naomi and Cllr Simon Ward, the deputy mayor of Rugby, have been campaigning for more than 15 months for the business to reverse its decision.

Naomi said: "This is not just a huge step forward in making communities heart safer, but also it’s like reaching the top of a mountain for us. When it comes to awareness and the vital need for all defibrillators to be accessible to everyone in the community, both day and night.

“We’d like to thank Heart of England Co-op for hearing us and showing their support for us. We’d also like to thank Lucie from The Rugby Advertiser for supporting us with our campaign to achieve this brilliant end result.

“We know Jamie was behind this, wherever he is pulling his strings from.”