MEMBERS of a North Yorkshire club who set out to raise funds for a defibrillator for their village, raised enough to also purchase a second one for a mountain rescue group.

Great Ayton Conservative Club set out in September to raise £2,000 for The Big Heart Charity, which would then provide the heart start equipment for the village.

But the club manage to raise nearly £3,000 and could afford to purchase a second machine through the charity for Cleveland Mountain Rescue Team (MRT).

The money was raised through a series of fundraising events, including a race night, a virtual Land’s End to John O’Groats bike ride, with miles logged on an exercise bike in the club and by members cycling on the road, and a sponsored silence by a member of staff in the club bar. The target was exceeded within three months and in January the village’s defibrillator was mounted on the outside wall of the club on Low Green.

Now the second piece of life-saving equipment has been presented to Cleveland MRT, based in Great Ayton. The group of rescue volunteers are responsible for an area of 1,000 square kilometres stretching from Hartlepool to Helmsley, including the northern part of the North York Moors.

Team spokesman Pete Mounsey said: “The team are normally has to deal with two or three heart attack cases a year.

"A defibrillator is vital for helping these casualties and this donation means that each of the team’s vehicles can now carry a state-of-the-art, lifesaving defibrillator.”