Award-winning entrepreneur and founder of Myprotein, Oliver Cookson, has launched Cookson First Aid to bring free first aid training to the Greater Manchester region.
The innovative new programme is fully funded by the Oliver Cookson Foundation and teaches a range of first aid and life-saving skills in just 60 minutes. The not-for-profit organisation is being led by Emily Harrison, CEO, who is now forging partnerships with community groups across the region to access the free courses.
Each course is delivered by fully qualified and experienced first aid professionals and will be provided completely free of charge. In the sixty-minute training sessions, attendees will be taught how to recognise the signs of cardiac arrest, how and when to perform CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) and how to use a defibrillator. Courses will also be offered on how to perform first aid on babies and young children.
Cookson First Aid aims to bring its courses direct to communities – anyone can sign up whether voluntary or community groups, or the general public – to ensure there are no cost or access barriers for anyone to learn essential first aid skills. And they are also working with specialist organisations to develop accessible courses to offer free first aid that really is for everyone in the community.
The Oliver Cookson Foundation is 100% funded by Oliver Cookson – Cookson First Aid was chosen as their flagship programme with a clear mission to save lives in communities across Greater Manchester and beyond.
Oliver Cookson said: “First aid, CPR and knowing how to use a defibrillator are essential life skills, and training to teach them should be available for free to everyone. For me, that’s a non-negotiable life skill. If you look at the stats, less than one in 10 people survive an out of hospital cardiac arrest. And this is all down to the low bystander CPR rates – basically people don’t know how to react or what to do.
“But acting quickly with knowledge of how to respond can make all the difference. In fact, every minute without CPR and defibrillation reduces a victim’s survival rate by 7-10%, and without immediate treatment 90-95% of cardiac arrests prove fatal. Lives can be saved, simply by learning these valuable skills. Yes, we’ve all seen high-profile cases – especially on the football field – like Christian Eriksen, but cardiac arrest can happen to anyone and with this initiative we want to make sure that everyone in all our communities across Greater Manchester has the skills to save a loved one in an emergency.”
Whilst Oliver has been involved in charity work for many years as a key donor to Caudwell Children’s Charity and as patron of Make a Wish, the Oliver Cookson Foundation is his opportunity to start his own charitable initiatives. He has a history of heart disease in his own family and remains committed to giving back to Greater Manchester.
He continued: “We’re kicking off our Cookson First Aid free courses in Manchester as I see it as a real opportunity to give back to the communities that made me. I was born in Withington Hospital and grew up in South Manchester – as a proud Mancunian the city will always be my home and close to my heart. I want to make sure the great people of Manchester learn the skills to be able to save someone they love. By removing cost and time barriers associated with first aid training we believe we can make a real impact.
“And once we’ve helped change the lives of people in Manchester, we aim to roll out the initiative, working with partners and local councils on a national scale.”
