The Charity.
Jay’s Aim was established, with the target of reducing the rate of sudden cardiac death among young people here in South-West England.
Soon after Jay died, we knew as a family that we wanted to set up a charity in his name. While the sudden nature of his death and the discovery of the presence of ARVC had left us grieving and shaken, it also made us determined to try and prevent other families from enduring this experience.
Here’s how
Training.
Offering free-to-attend training sessions for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automated electronic defibrillator (AED).
Defibrillators.
Providing public access defibrillators (PAD) for places in need including sports clubs, schools and community hubs.
Screening.
Funding and encouraging young people to attend cardiac screening sessions and supporting Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY).
Starting the charity
Several members of our family work in education and know the UK national curriculum well, at both primary and secondary levels. We wanted to put this valuable knowledge and experience (as well as useful contacts within the education sector) to good use, but initially we struggled to see how we could create a charity that would appeal to young people. Then we realised that we also share a family-wide love of sport and exercise, and that the two elements could combine to shape a charity that might be uniquely engaging for young people.
Once we made this connection, things began to slot into place and Jay’s Aim quickly gathered momentum. Setting up a charity is a long but worthwhile process. The Charity Commission conferred Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) status on Jay’s Aim in January 2018, and we launched the charity publicly in May 2018.
We decided from the beginning that our charity would focus on reducing the rate of sudden cardiac death amongst young people in South-West England.
We don’t specifically define the word ‘young’, but because inherited heart conditions commonly become life-threatening during adolescence and early adulthood, the cardiac screening sessions that we fund and promote are available to people between the ages of 14 and 35 years.
Research shows that early awareness is pivotal in preventing sudden cardiac death, and swift intervention during cardiac arrest can mean the difference between life and death:
“Every week in the UK, an estimated 12 young people die from an undiagnosed heart condition, with approximately 80% showing no prior signs or symptoms.”
— Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY)
“If a defibrillator is used and effective CPR is performed within 3-5 minutes of cardiac arrest, survival chances increase from 6% to 74%.”
— British Heart Foundation
“Less than 1 in 10 people survive a cardiac arrest in the UK, however in countries such as Norway, where CPR is taught on the national curriculum, up to 4 in 10 people survive.”
— British Heart Foundation
“Only 31% of people in the UK who haven’t been professionally trained on a CPR course are likely to help somebody having a cardiac arrest.”
— Resuscitation Council UK and St Johns Ambulance
Educating.
Statistics like these made us feel determined to address the lack of awareness – this feeling was compounded when family members reported that, in the course of their work in education, they’d noticed many school settings offered students only limited information about CPR, defibrillators and cardiac screenings (and in some cases, no information at all).
We began to work with schools, colleges and universities, promoting awareness of inherited heart conditions and offering CPR/AED training, and soon extended this to sports clubs. In addition, we also offer community sessions and we sometimes visit businesses. There is an application process for the defibrillators we provide, and although it is open to all, many of our defibrillators are installed at sports clubs and other locations popular with young people.
There is no doubt in our minds that, if Jay were here now, he would want to make a difference and prevent other young people suffering sudden cardiac death. Jay’s memory informs every decision that we make as a charity; it is also the driving force that keeps us working hard to improve our impact across the South-West.
Our Achievements
The two graphs below illustrate the number of young people trained by Jay’s Aim and the number of defibrillators provided by the charity in its two and a half years of existence.