A LOCAL residents' group have been making headway in their plans to bring defibrillators to the Beechmount area.

The Beechmount Residents' Collective (BRC) began a campaign eight weeks ago to raise enough money for two defibrillators, one of which will go outside Patisserie G in Beechmount Avenue and the other in Beechmount Grove.

Seán Doherty from BRC said they began the campaign during the planning of their Beechmount Community Hub when they realised Beechmount was one of the only areas with no ready access to a defibrillator.

“When we were drawing up plans for our community hub we noticed the area was one of the only ones which didn’t have any defibrillators and we wanted to change that," he said.

“We reached out to other businesses in the area, including Fitzy's 24hr Convenience Store, Patisserie G, Barnes' chip shop, Jose's Deli, Susie’s Sweets, Cafe Cooks, Costcutter Beechmount and Avenue Vapes and the campaign has been going for the past eight weeks and we’ve had a really positive response to it."

Patrick Fox of Jose’s Deli said: “Seán came to us about the campaign he was running and we were very interested in it and wanted to support it to help get some defibrillators for the area. We've got the blue buckets in our businesses now to help raise money.”

Seán explained the group have now raised enough for one of the defibrillators and are hoping to raise the rest with a fundraising event at the Hawthorn Bar on November 24.

“We have the money together for one defibrillator and we’re trying to now raise the money for the second one. Another business, Conway Group, are from Beechmount as well and they gave some money towards the first one.

“On Friday, November 24 we will have two local fellas, Ciarán Mac and Teabóid, who will be playing music at the Hawthorn Bar where we’ll be hosting a fundraiser. We’ll be putting on a bit of music and any funds raised will go towards getting the second defibrillator and also towards our plans for a new community hub on Beechmount Grove.”

Seán continued: “We’re building up the momentum at the moment to get the community hub going so it can be a space for young people as we’ve been the only group reaching out to the youth in the area. Our idea is to use it as a workshop, drop-in centre and also for educational purposes. We believe education is key to tackling anti-social behaviour in the area."