EXCLUSIVE: Cash for Kids funding life saving Bristol bleed kits
We can reveal our charity Cash for Kids is funding 10 so called Bleed Control Cabinets to tackle West Country knife crime, three of which have already been installed in Bristol
Last updated 31st May 2024
As efforts continue to tackle West Country knife crime we can reveal we are funding vital life-saving equipment on our streets, through our charity Cash for Kids.
Teaming up with anti-knife crime campaigner and Daniel Baird Foundation representative Leanne Reynolds we are funding 10 so called Bleed Control Cabinets to be installed in public across the region.
Just three days ago on Tuesday (28th May) a man was stabbed several times on Bond Street in Bristol city centre, mere metres from where one of our cabinets has already been installed.
Amazingly a kit was used by a passer by to stem his bleeding, before he was taken to hospital where he is now in a critical but stable condition.
Three of the 10 kits have already been installed, with the other two in Hartcliffe and outside the Lebeqs Tavern in Easton, very close to where 16-year-old Darrian Williams was fatally attacked in February.
Leanne also runs training sessions on how to use them and recently talked us through what they include.
She said: "We have the chito gauze to pack wounds, we have the pressure bandage, we have a tourniquet and we also have the chest seal and gloves.
"If you come across someone or there's a person with a catastrophic bleed, you can get one of the kits...and then you have a card inside where you can follow the instructions and also be on the call to 999 and they can guide you through how to use the contents to potentially stop the bleed and save that life while you're waiting for emergency services."
Leanne's background is in education, but she decided to take on a new role teaching people about the dangers of knife crime after two boys she worked with both lost their lives in 2021.
Figures obtained by Greatest Hits Radio through a Freedom of Information request earlier this year revealed 13 people were killed by knives on streets across Avon and Somerset in 2023.
Since the start of this year we have also lost Max Dixon (16) and Mason Rist (15) in Knowle West, Darrian in Easton and 30-year-old Aliki Mamwa who was attacked in St Pauls in March.
"We have a long waiting time for ambulances," Leanne said.
"The NHS is really stretched, so if the ambulance is not coming so soon we need that medical equipment to actually deal with the emergency while you're waiting."
Several other groups and individuals have also backed our efforts including the Bristol Bears and their captain Fitz Harding, who recently attended one of Leanne's training sessions.
He said: "It's been a great day for myself and a few of the other lads just to understand a bit more about bleed kits, the risk that Bristol has with rising knife crime and other accidental bleeds, so it's been really informative.
"These bleed kits and training people to be able to be the first people on the scene and to be able to deal with them (incidents) and make progress and try and save lives is a massively important thing to have."
How does it work?
Through the Daniel Baird Foundation any individual can purchase a kit to have themselves, but by funding the cabinets Leanne is able to place them on the streets in public to be used by anyone in the event of an emergency.
The cabinets are locked to prevent the kit being taken, so as and when they are installed they are registered with the South West Ambulance Service and call handlers provided the code to unlock them.
The idea is that when an incident occurs, a person rings 999 and the call handler can highlight if a cabinet is nearby and provide the code to unlock it.
They can then talk the individual through how to use the kit, though it does also include an instruction sheet inside.
The importance
Another backing our efforts is Hayley Ryall, from Kingswood.
Hayley lost her 16-year-old son Mikey Roynon last summer, when he was fatally stabbed at a house party in Bath.
She and her family have since set up the charity Mikey's World to fight against knife crime. Among other things they also fundraise for bleed kits.
She said: "Bleed kits will raise awareness massively to knife crime."
"Also not just knife crime as well, catastrophic bleeds. We've got defibs everywhere, but you can lose your life just as quick with a catastrophic bleed so they need to be out there as well."
"I completely agree with all the campaigning that's being done all over the UK for these bleed kits, because they can actually save lives."
"I've been on the training many a times now and they can save lives."