YOUNG people demonstrated their life saving skills to celebrate nearly a year of the Every School a Life Saver campaign.

Bolton West MP Julie Hilling praised the students of Rivington and Blackrod High School during a visit to mark the British Heart Foundation’s fundraising campaign Ramp Up The Red Day and her emergency life support skills (ELS) campaign.

The Bolton News has teamed up with Ms Hilling to ensure children leave school knowing how to save a life — the MP wants to put ELS on the timetable of all schools in the country.

Rivington and Blackrod has defibrillators on site in case of emergencies in school and within the local community.

Young people are trained in life saving skills.

Ms Hilling said: “It is nearly one year since The Bolton News joined my campaign to make every school leaver a life saver and it’s excellent so many schools have got involved in the scheme.

“We had planned to have a demonstration of ELS by the professionals in the room. Instead, the students took over and gave us an excellent presentation on how to save a life.

“The confidence those students have in doing emergency first aid will help them in the future if they face a situation when they need to use their skills in a real life or death situation.

“Having the skills to save someone’s life is a crucial part of education and I’m so pleased Rivington and Blackrod High School is a Heartstart school and has done so much to train their students to deal with an emergency.

“I will carry on campaigning locally and nationally to have emergency life support skills put on the National Curriculum so that every school leaver will be a life saver and for all schools have defibrillators available.”

Ms Hilling joined students, teachers, the Reverend David Griffiths, school governor and member of Horwich Rotary Club, North West Ambulance Service and the British Heart Foundation and the local fire service for the celebration.

Tony Purcell, head teacher said: “We are committed to ensuring that all of our students develop skills to enable them to deal with a life threatening emergency.

“All of our students undertake the Heart-start program; a program which teaches people CPR and emergency life-saving skills.

“With the help of the Rotary Club of Horwich, we also have three defibrillators at Rivington and Blackrod High School and staff are trained to use them in the event of an emergency.

“In teaching our young people these important life-saving skills, we are providing them with skills that they will always have with them, helping us to make our community a safer place to study, work and visit.”