Partygoers at clubs and pubs in Kettering can look forward to a safer night out following a new partnership between a training company based in the town and the charity behind the volunteers who patrol the town centre.
MBCO Academy has donated more than £3,000 worth of training to Kettering Street Pastors, enabling all 50 of its volunteers to study for an Emergency First Aid qualification.
Street Pastors patrol Kettering town centre between 11pm and 3am every Saturday, on payday Fridays and other major party nights. Their aim is to ensure that everyone enjoys a night out and gets safely home.
The new training will mean that the pastors – volunteers from local churches – are better equipped to provide first aid support to those who need it.
“Some of the response times we have been quoted for an ambulance recently mean that there is a genuine danger of someone losing their life because we cannot get the right care to them quickly enough,” said co-ordinator Rob Webb. “The tremendous support of the team at MBCO Academy will mean that our volunteers are better equipped to provide immediate support while we wait for the ambulance or first responders to arrive.”
MBCO Academy made the donation after an appeal at the Kettering Awards in October, of which the Street Pastors was the official charity.
MBCO Academy’s chief executive Michael Beddall said: “When we heard the Street Pastors’ appeal for donations towards first aid training, we knew straight away that we wanted to help We are delighted that the training provided will make such a difference right here in the town where we are based.”
MBCO Academy delivers first aid, security and more than 100 e-learning courses from its training academy in Regent Street.