De Vere back Gallacher campaign

Leading golf resort chain and PGA Partner De Vere has announced its full support for the Bernard Gallacher-backed nationwide defibrillator campaign.

The Ryder Cup legend launched the campaign, which aims to get the life-saving devices available at every golf club and facility across the country, at Wentworth last month.

De Vere, which has 12 resorts across the UK, has taken steps to commit to a series of fundraising events to be held at its resorts throughout 2014.

In line with other participating golf clubs, De Vere are looking to host one event at each of its resorts to raise the funds for the campaign and get defibrillators installed at each property.

The campaign was instigated by Bernard and his wife Lesley Gallacher after Bernard suffered a sudden cardiac arrest during a dinner reception in Aberdeen. Fortunately he was lucky that an automated external defibrillator (AED) was on-site and early-response CPR could be administered to help him regain consciousness and take steps towards a full recovery.

Therefore, the campaign is looking to encourage every golf club or driving range to have an AED close by in case of emergency, and hopefully save lives.

Keith Pickard, regional golf director for De Vere said: “Bernard is a golfing icon and we were all in a state of shock when we heard he had been taken ill. There was never any doubt that we would want to support this campaign.

“We are always looking to give back to golf across all levels of the game, and this provides the perfect platform to increase awareness of this issue and hopefully save lives in the future.

“We currently only have one defibrillator at Slaley Hall and Belton Woods, as well as a number at The Belfry.

“However, we believe it is vitally important to have at least one available at each resort, and therefore through a series of fundraising events, we hope to raise enough money to make it possible to purchase one at each of our properties and provide further donations to the campaign throughout 2014.”

Gallacher, a three-time Ryder Cup captain, was delighted to hear of De Vere’s commitment to the campaign.

“De Vere is one of the UK’s leading golf providers and has some first class resorts,” he said.

“Therefore, to have someone one like this in full support of the campaign is fantastic to hear and just continues with the early momentum that it has gained since the launch event.

“Some fantastic names from across the world of golf have already put their names to the campaign and to have De Vere add their name to the list is just fantastic news.”

Event dates across the De Vere resorts will be confirmed in early 2014 see www.deveregolf.co.uk for more details.

For more on the campaign, please visit www.defibssavelives.org