Independent furniture retailer Sopha has raised over £1,100 for a community defibrillator.
On Easter Bank Holiday Monday, Sopha held its Easter Raffle live on Facebook and raised £1,273 towards its fundraising goal of £1,400 to install a defibrillator in its store and to train people on its proper use.
Commenting on the community raffle, Sopha said: “We are overwhelmed at the support we have received through our community defibrillator fundraising raffle.
“Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) is an unexpected and potentially fatal event that affects around 30,000 people each year. Quick access to a defibrillator is crucial, as every minute counts when it comes to increasing the chances of survival. By installing a defibrillator close to the town centre, we can offer the Highbridge community a fighting chance in the face of an SCA.
“We would like to thank everyone who has contributed to our raffle in some way be that through donating raffle prizes, buying tickets or even selling tickets. The raffle featured some amazing prizes donated by local businesses and some of our valued suppliers. We would also like to thank those individuals and businesses who have given us cash donations towards our defibrillator fund. Your support really means a lot to us and we couldn’t have done it without you.”
Sopha gave away prizes to over 50 winners, including a £50 gift voucher to be spent in store, which was won by local customer Gill, who has already used the voucher to buy one of its new Cosgrove collection lamps.
“We would love to reach our fundraising goal of £1,400 so we can train our team to use the defibrillator in case it needs to be used. If you would like to help us you can still donate on our JustGiving page,” Sopha added.
“We would also like to give a big thank you to Kevin, our store manager, who has organised the whole event from asking local businesses to donate raffle prizes and selling tickets for us to being in front of the camera when we went live.”