A CHARITY dedicated to preparing schools and small sports teams for the worst is spreading its potentially life saving message to Bradford.

Heartbeat of Sports is an Elland based charity that trains people to deal with sudden cardiac arrests, providing training and helping schools and clubs get defibrillators.

The group has been working in Calderdale for over two years, and yesterday held its first of many training sessions in Bradford, at Russell Hall Primary School in Queensbury.

The school had invited members of the charity to offer training due to a pupil at the school having a heart condition. Although the staff have first aid training, the charity trained them specifically to deal with children suffering a heart attack.

It was started by Elland businessman Tony Abbott after he saw footballer Fabrice Muamba collapse during a match between his team Bolton and Tottenham Hotspur. Mr Abbott, who was at the game, was shook up after watching the healthy player collapse without warning.

Thousands watched on as emergency medical teams battled to save his life and in the following days the country was gripped by the story of how an athlete in peak physical condition could come so close to death.

Muamba's heart was stopped for 78 minutes, but he made a full recovery. After recommendations from doctors, he retired from professional football in August 2012.

Mr Abbott wanted to to put a stop to such tragedies ever happening again, and set up the not for profit organisation. As well as providing training, the charity hopes to raise awareness of the condition, and teach young people the importance of healthy living.

Twelve people under the age of 25 die each week in the UK from sudden cardiac arrest. For each minute being untreated, a victim's chance of survival drops by up to 10 per cent.

Tony Tonks taught staff at Russell Hall Primary. He said: "We want to reach out to organisations and schools in Bradford and Leeds.

"There are defibrilators in supermarkets and other businesses, we want to get them to be compulsary in smaller clubs and schools where they play sports. They often have very limited funds, so we help them with fundraising to get these defibrilators.

"When we come into schools we teach staff first aid, recovery positions, spinal injuries and make them aware of what the outcomes of a sudden cardiac arrest."

He said the charity had built good relationships with businesses offering defibrilators, and this made it easier for schools and small clubs to obtain one. Mr Tonks added: "We make it really easy for these groups to train and get the equipment.

"The staff we spoke to at Russell Hall had all had first aid training, but they hadn't been taught how to use a defibrilator.

"Everyone heard about what happened with Fabrice Muamba, and we wanted to let as many groups as possible know what to do in a similar situation. We have been working a lot in Halifax and now the next step is to go out to the Bradford and Leeds areas to talk to schools and children about the condition. We also talk to them about obesity and the importance of excersise. They need to know to stay healthy and excersise so they are not putting inecessary strain on their heart. We hope this visit to the school was the first of many in Bradford."

Any school interested in a training session can call 0844 833 0714 or visit heartbeatofsport.org