AFTER months of fundraising, pupils at Noremarsh Junior School have unveiled a life-saving piece of equipment in Royal Wootton Bassett High Street.

On Friday, a defibrillator – which can restart the heart in the case of a cardiac arrest – was unveiled on the wall opposite the town’s war memorial after pupils at the school managed to raise £2,000 in donations during the last school year.

Thirteen-year-old James Thomas, who left the school for Royal Wootton Bassett Academy last year, was one of the students who spearheaded the campaign with a 31-mile sponsored bike ride around the town.

The youngster said: “My dad and managed to raise £210.

“I wanted to raise money so we could get a defibrillator after we heard about the child who had a heart attack while playing football and I thought it was something that we really need to have in the town.

“We heard about it in assembly and it was just something I wanted to raise money for.

“I do quite a lot of cycling anyway and it was just one thing I thought I could do.

“Lots of people could be saved by having the machine and it’s just really really important to have it.”

Following James’ example, many Noremarsh pupils got behind the campaign, with fundraising events including setting up lemonade stalls, cake stalls, sponsored silences and singing as well as a fun run, while many other businesses and figures in the community raised money for the cause too.

Ellen Woollaston-Cooper, chairman of the board of governors at Noremarsh, said: “I think it’s fantastic that the school has managed to raise the money and unveiled it here today.

“It was totally led by the children and I think they were just inspired to do something.

“We decided to put it in the High Street where it’s more accessible to everyone in the community, it wasn’t really about the school but about bringing it to the community.

“We thought here opposite the war memorial would be a good central place near a well-known thoroughfare for it to be.”

Post office proprietor Ashwin Patel and his family agreed to have the defibrillator on their outside wall and to carry out the regular maintenance checks on behalf of the community.

The automated external defibrillator (AED) is available for use 24 hours a day and is secured in a lurid yellow, vandal resistant box which can only be opened with a special combination code provided by an emergency services operator via 999.

The machine tells the user how to use it and will analyse the casualty itself before administering any shocks.