FA Wales announces unique partnership with Welsh Hearts

The Football Association of Wales has teamed up with a leading charity to help deliver lifesaving defibrillator, equipment and training to all football clubs in Wales.

The new partnership between the FAW (Football Association of Wales) and Welsh Hearts, The Heart Charity for Wales, was announced at the Wales squad’s open training session at the Racecourse in Wrexham last week.

To kick off the partnership, the National team have donated their match fees to fund the first six defibrillators, one for every area association in Wales.

Wrexham based Llangollen Football Club were present at the training session last Monday to be the first recipients of the FAW and Welsh Hearts defibrillator fitted at their ground.

Harry Wilson, who grew up in Corwen just outside Llangollen, presented the club with their defibrillator alongside captain Ashley Williams and manager Ryan Giggs.

Football clubs and training facilities across Wales are often the hub of communities, used by many different teams and community groups. However many of these integral community spaces currently do not have defibrillators installed.

The new partnership between The FAW and Welsh Hearts aims to change that and ensure that in the future every player and spectator in every football club in Wales, no matter how big or small, will have access to a lifesaving defibrillator.

Football Association of Wales Medical Services Manager & Lead Physiotherapist, Sean Connelly said: “At The Football Association of Wales, we recognise the importance of investing in the health and wellbeing of our footballers and the wider community groups using football facilities across the country.”

“With this partnership we will work together to fundraise to aid Welsh Hearts with the amazing work they do for heart health in Wales and together we hope that this equipment will minimise the terrible instances from sudden cardiac arrests that have occurred in football grounds across Wales”.

Sharon Owen, the director of Welsh Hearts added: “This initiative is a perfect match to the ambitious work of Welsh Hearts in communities throughout Wales.

“We believe the impact on lives will be far-reaching, as no one should die in Wales due to a lack of a public access defibrillator in the event of an emergency. They should be available everywhere. I am excited to work with the FAW as they are at the heart of communities in Wales.”

To join the Football Association of Wales and Wales’ leading Heart Charity help safeguard our footballers and spectators across the country you can donate via the JustGiving site.

You can apply for a defibrillator here.

You can view our coverage of the Wales squad’s open training session in Wrexham, here.