Cookson First Aid was founded by entrepreneur and philanthropist Oliver Cookson, founder of the sports nutrition business Myprotein, and more recently Verve, to address barriers in access to emergency first aid training. Oliver has fully funded Cookson First Aid from day one, with a clear mission; to save lives: “We are proudly a social enterprise with a clear purpose, and our aim is to become a fully sustainable business, operating across the UK to provide free training and access to life saving defibrillators to communities who need it most”.
There are approximately 80,000 cardiac arrests not in hospitals each year.
Without immediate treatment 90-95% cardiac arrests prove fatal.
Less than 1 in 10 survive an out of hospital cardiac arrest due to low bystander CPR knowledge.
Emily Harrison, CEO, explains in more detail: “As a social enterprise we have such a unique position, I think that is why people have really connected with Cookson First Aid, we are a business that operates solely for the community, and our message – that everyone needs to know how to save a life – is a powerful one.
“Since launching in Greater Manchester in 2022, we have trained almost 3,000 people with a small team, and our innovative approach to teaching people to become lifesavers. Removing barriers to learning was our first goal, which is the aim of Oliver’s foundation. Time, location of training and cost were the main reasons we found that people were not learning CPR, so we created a one hour course, delivered in the community. We purposefully train in locations where people are already accessing services, such as libraries, parks, and leisure centres – and most importantly it is free.
“When we started training last year, we quickly found a lack of accessible training options. So we reached out to a range of organisations who supported special educational need (SEND) families, groups where English was their second language and organisations supporting deaf, hard of hearing and visually impaired people to try and address this. We have since designed and delivered accessible training courses in partnership with them, so when we say free first aid for all, we really mean it. We have also worked with charities and youth groups to teach how to deal with bleeds and trauma, as this is just as important as CPR in learning how to save a life.
“In support of Martyn’s Law we will be incorporating the Public Access Trauma (PAcT) kits into our training, to raise awareness of their importance. and encourage use of these kits in an emergency. The number one way you can support our work is to use us as your first aid training provider. The more corporate training we deliver, the more free training we can provide, it’s that simple.”
Corporate Training
“We have created a range of options for businesses of all sizes who want to support our mission. Using us as a first aid training provider will enable you to nominate local community groups or charities to receive free training, so you are directly funding training in the areas you operate, as well as receiving quality training for your business. It is a win-win for everyone. We believe saving lives is all of our responsibility, not just your team’s certified first aider, and we encourage businesses to offer first aid training to all of their employees to learn CPR and bleed control.
“With Cookson First Aid a full course of accredited training comes with a free one hour training session for the rest of your team.* We also offer special discounted prices for community, voluntary groups and charities. Our long term goal is to provide access to free first aid for everyone in the UK. It is a big ambition, but one we feel we can achieve by providing quality training to businesses who share our values. Get in touch to book your training. 100% of your investment will go towards achieving our mission.”
“When I came into the office on Tuesday morning the last thing I wanted to do was First Aid training. We were very busy and I just saw it as a bit of an inconvenience, but within the first five minutes, Ric had managed to make me forget about all that and focus on learning in a really engaging way.
“Not only did I leave the room feeling like I’d learnt loads, I also genuinely enjoyed the day. Most importantly I feel prepared for any issues that may arise. I can’t recommend Cookson First Aid enough.”
15% DISCOUNT SPECIAL OFFER
For all readers of Business Connect Magazine a 15% discount is available off training, applicable on booking a full course (12 people), or on individuals attending accredited training courses. To book your Corporate Training please email hello@cooksonfirstaid.org and mention the code BusinessConnect15’ to secure your discount**.
*Terms and conditions apply, a full course is for 12 people.
**Offer closes 31st March 2024.
cooksonfirstaid.org • hello@cooksonfirstaid.org
