Good news rang out across the Goulburn region on Wednesday afternoon, as Member for Goulburn Pru Goward announced the distribution of a further 11 defibrillators for sporting clubs across her electorate.
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In a press release, Ms Goward announced that local sporting clubs have been awarded a total of $14,300 in funding to put towards defibrillators.
These clubs were spread across Yass, Crookwell, Goulburn, and the Southern Tablelands.
One such club was the Goulburn District Netball Association, and president Buddy Ahearn was thrilled to learn of the news.
“It’s great news, it’s wonderful news,” Mr Ahearn said.
“We were looking recently at costs for purchasing one of our own, and it gets to the stage with a not-for-profit organisation, this is the type of thing you have to weigh up because they’re not cheap things to purchase for an association.
“So this’ll help immensely.”
Since so many local sporting organisations are not-for-profit, Mr Ahearn believes that grants like this will significantly ease the burden and allow them to promote the club in other ways.
“We look for sponsorship and support everywhere we can to try and help our girls participate in the sport, and this is just something that we won’t have to worry about now,” he said.
“The funds that we set aside for that can go to things that can help the girls directly, it’ll be great.”
According to Mr Ahearn, it will allow the association to focus on ensuring that Goulburn can offer a high level of competition for its players.
“We have eight teams this year representing Goulburn throughout New South Wales, and it’s not cheap to do that,” Mr Ahearn said.
“So the money can go into that to help the girls travel throughout New South Wales and compete in bigger carnivals and state championships and the like.”
Many local clubs across the Goulburn electorate have applied for the Local Sport Defibrillation Program, and Ms Goward was thrilled that there was such strong support.
“So far more than 430 defibrillators have been allocated across the state and I am confident the addition of 11 defibrillators across Goulburn will benefit hundreds of local players and spectators,” Ms Goward said.
In the unlikely event that a defibrillator will be needed, it can also greatly improve a victim’s chances of surviving a cardiac episode.
“More than 33,000 Australians experience cardiac arrest every year and early access to CPR and defibrillation can influence survival rates by up to 75 percent,” Minister for Sport David Ayres said.