IMPORTANT paediatric first aid courses being run in Chepstow will be made more accessible as a result of a number of community groups coming together.

These courses have been set up by Alexis Francis-Lang, after she received a good public response to two previous first aid courses that ran in January.

This time she hopes to make the courses more accessible to struggling families with the help of the The Chepstow and Caldicot Lions Club and the ‘Children’s Hub and Information for Parents’ (CHIP) Chepstow.

The Lions Club will fund the cost of the course for anyone interested in taking the course who is a recipient of benefits.

Speaking about the previous courses Alexis said: “We had more than 45 people show interest in two or three days so we organised another course, we did have quite a few people that came along that were struggling for funding.

“I funded three people, and that’s when it came to me that perhaps we could look into some funding for people in receipt of benefits or any family that might be struggling.

“I didn’t think it was something anyone should miss out on the basis of funding and the Lions have been amazing in coming in.”

Helping to spread the word about the courses is CHIP Chepstow, run by Vicky Yates, which connects thousands of parents in the area.

She said: “CHIP has been running for three years and it is all based on Facebook. I’m grateful that Alexis thought to contact me because there are 2,500 that follow the page and hopefully that means we can spread the word quickly and more and more people take up these spaces.”

The importance of a paediatric first aid course can not be understated according to Alexis.

She said: “Many of the things covered, particularly with children are time critical, so you can save a life very quickly or lose a life quickly, it is very simple, basic things you can learn that can make a huge difference.

“Choking is a big one, a lot of children choke very frequently and it’s knowing what to do quickly and not to panic and I think any kind of first aid course gives you confidence to act at the time.

“We are hoping to do three courses of this and hopefully get as many people trained as possible and that will be facilitated by Vicky’s help and the people from the Lions.”

Lion’s President Brian Prout said these were the kind of projects the club was always looking to support, he said: “Lions is all about ordinary people doing extraordinary things on a voluntary basis, wherever there is a need there is a Lion.”

The first paediatric first aid course will be run on Saturday 20th May from 1.30pm to 4.30pm at Burnt Barn Club in Bulwark.

The course costs £20 and children aged eight to 18 may attend free of charge. Those interested in attending should visit CHIP Chepstow Facebook.

There attendees can book a place on the course and find out more information about subsidised places. More courses are planned in the near future including a course in Caldicot.