Northampton village school thanks donors after smashing target for defibrillator with fun afternoon of fundraising

A school in a village near Northampton wants to thank everyone who donated towards its appeal for a defibrillator following Christian Eriksen's cardiac arrest during the Euros.

Having thought about getting a defib outside Boughton Primary School, reception teacher Nicola Cook decided to go for it after watching the incident during the Denmark vs Finland match last month.

She set up an online fundraising page for £800 but managed to raise more than £2,000 in two weeks, including a fun afternoon at the school.

"When I saw what happened to Christian Eriksen, it just brought it home how vitally important it is for us to have our own defibrillator at the school," she said.

"We only set up our fundraising campaign two weeks ago and we have been blown away by the generosity shown by our parents, grandparents and wider school community.

"We want to thank everyone for their support, which has taken us past our initial target of £800 to just over £2000."

The fundraising afternoon was the first whole-school event for 18 months at Boughton Primary and 'felt like a lovely slice of normality' despite the social distancing, Nicola said.

They had a penalty shoot-out for all the children to take part in, a post-match 'soak the teacher' event and a 'guess the sporty teacher' photo quiz to raise money.

Northamptonshire Steelbacks donated signed shirts and a cricket bat to use as the grand prize.

The school can now purchase the defib without having to use other funds and and install it for the community to use if needed.

Nicola added: "This is an amazing achievement for our small school and all thanks to the families at Boughton Primary."