Proper Pubs, the award-winning community wet-led operator division of Admiral Taverns, which has more than 200 pubs across England, Scotland and Wales, has partnered with Warwickshire-based defibrillator charity, OurJay,  which aims to raise awareness of the importance of having 24/7 publicly accessible defibrillators.  

Over the last few months, OurJay has generously donated four lifesaving defibrillators to four Proper Pubs. The sites benefitting include The Ashby Tavern in Hinckley, The Hare & Hounds in Nuneaton, The Sovereign in Coventry and The Coach & Horses in West Bromwich. Each of these Proper Pubs will be running a series of events with the goal of raising a total of £6,000 to give back to the Midlands’ based foundation. 

Mark Brooke, Managing Director at Proper Pubs, commented: “We are absolutely blown away by the incredible donation of four defibrillators across our estate and on behalf of myself, and the whole team at Proper Pubs, I’d like to thank everyone at OurJay for their incredible hard work and generosity. In return, we look forward to focusing our efforts on fundraising for OurJay to ensure they can continue the fantastic work they do that will no doubt benefit communities across the UK for years to come.” 

Founded in 2022, OurJay was set up by Naomi Rees-Issitt following the tragic and sudden death of her 18-year-old son, Jamie, due to an unexpected cardiac arrest. OurJay is committed to raising awareness of the importance of having 24/7 publicly accessible automated external defibrillators (AEDs) and since its inception has installed 179 across its hometown, Rugby. As part of its work it also provides crucial education and training to the general public on CPR and AED use, as well as fundraising to install defibrillators across Rugby, Warwickshire and further afield. 

Naomi Rees-Issitt, Jamie’s Mum and Founder of OurJay, said: “OurJay Foundation is very proud to have been able to support Proper Pubs in providing accessible defibrillators and bleed control kits to communities across the Midlands and we look forward to continuing our work with the team. We’re delighted that our Jamie’s legacy can live on through our partnership with Admiral Taverns and that community pubs and their customers can play such an important role in ensuring this lifesaving equipment is readily available across as many pubs as possible. 

As always, whilst we hope there is never a need for it, we are relieved in the knowledge that should the worst situation ever require this emergency equipment, we have been able to facilitate vital access.” 

In March 2024, Proper Pubs was recognised at the Publican Awards 2024 for its defibrillator campaign, where the Group won Best Community Pub Operator. With the help of its locals, it successfully installed a defibrillator outside all of its sites – where there wasn’t already one in close proximity – resulting in eleven life-changing results. 

Defibrillators are a medical device which send an electric pulse or shock to the heart to restore a normal heartbeat when an individual is in cardiac arrest. They have been installed with clear signposting in an easily accessible location to the public and are designed to provide emergency support for individual communities.