Hucknall Arc Cinema has a defibrillator following successful community fundraising

The Arc Cinema in Hucknall now has a defibrillator which is set to be installed and fully operational within the next couple of weeks.

The potentially lifesaving piece of equipment will be available for wider community use should there be an emergency in Hucknall and won't be exclusively for Arc Cinema customers.

The push for the cinema to have a defibrillator has come from Assistant Manager and Hucknall resident Kelly Golding. Her main motivation for leading the cause stems from her father's life being saved a few years ago by the ease of access to, and close proximity of, a defibrillator in relation to where he suffered a heart attack in Annesley.

This led to the cinema carrying out a number of fundraising activities such as selling film posters at the Christmas Market and organising a raffle.

Speaking to Hucknall Nub News back in December last year Ms Golding said: "I want the community to get involved in this, have a hand in it, see us doing it. It's something that we need at this end of Hucknall."

The community including local businesses responded overwhelmingly and helped The Arc raise the best part of £2000 which not only covers the cost of the defibrillator but also the installation costs.

Speaking exclusively to Hucknall Nub News, cinema manager Mark Gallagher said: "It's amazing! I've got to say it's all Kelly's work, this was her idea, she's put it all together and it's great to see the fruition of all the hard work that she's done. It means a lot for me that somebody on my team has committed themselves to this project and it's come through; it's going to be on the wall in a couple of weeks, that means more to me I think than the fact that we've done it, which is great.

"It means a lot that we're giving back to the community. Other businesses in Hucknall have defibs for customers only, (we're) really keen that ours is for the wider community and want to give back because the community is so good to us, really supportive. All these events we put on, the pictures you'll see are full of people so it means people are coming, people are coming to the cinema and we want to give back, and that's really important.

"It's not like where we've raised money and we've given it to charity and that's it we don't see it again, this will be a bright yellow box on the side of the building that we'll see every time we come to work and just remind us of all the hard work we do and what it means."

The cinema is now in possession of the defibrillator and expects it to be installed and fully functional within the next few weeks.

For further information about Arc Cinema, the sponsor of Hucknall Nub News' What's On section, click here.