A CHARITY which has benefitted from a generous donation by the Holsworthy League of Friends has paid tribute to them.

The British Association for Immediate Care (BASICS) Devon is a volunteer charity which provides emergency care, supporting the ambulance service.

The generous donation came as the Holsworthy League of Friends winds down its work amid the loss of community beds.

A spokesperson for BASICS Devon said: “We are blown away by a very generous donation from the Holsworthy League of Friends. We understand that this is a sad time for the League of Friends, the end of an era.

“After the final confirmation of closure of the beds at the community hospital their income and activity reduced.

“We want to express our extreme gratitude for their support over the last 30+ years and especially now as their community role comes to an end. The effort they have put into fundraising over many years has been amazing and reflects the Holsworthy community spirit.

“We will use these funds for the benefit of our communities and for some specific Holsworthy and North Devon initiatives such as expanding our immediate care responders.

“We are also passionate about training local people to be able to use life saving defibrillators in their communities empowering them to be confident and step in before medical help arrives.

“We are honoured to share this with the North Devon Hospice and will be working together for our communities.

“Over the last year BASICS Devon has responded to 476 callouts including 159 at night 476 arriving first on the scene 42 per cent of the time.

“Dr Harpreet Pahdi-Jones, Dr David Hillebrandt, Dr Simon Fairclough and Dr Angus Macdonald are the North Devon Volunteer Immediate Care doctors and attended 175 call outs just in their North Devon communities, this equates to almost 40 per cent of the total scheme callouts.”