WOW.... We did it!
Our team leader Diane said, "I am extremely proud of my team and honoured to accept this award on behalf of our Canvey Community. It was a fantastic evening and incredible meeting everyone at the event. Thank you everyone".
Well done to all the Winners, to all the Runners Up and to all those who were nominated.
Also, thank you to everyone who made the evening happen and a VERY special thank you to everyone who voted for us. We do the things we do because we want to give back to our community and help make our community a better place.... it's humbling to see how appreciated our efforts have been.
Keeping Canvey Number One
Canvey Island
Community First Responders
We’re a group of volunteer members of the NHS, who are trained to respond to 999 emergency calls and cover the whole of Canvey Island.
We provide early life saving treatment to patients in the local community, and as we work or live on the Island, we are able to attend the scene of an emergency within a few minutes… often before the emergency services arrive.
Being a completely voluntary group, we rely on donations, sponsorship and fund raising events. We also hold Basic Life Saving (BLS) training to the general public and groups.
Thanks for taking the time to check out our website, we hope you find it interesting.
Diane Gonzalez
Team Leader
Meet our Team
When these wonderful people have a break from their day-to-day jobs, they give up their spare time to help the community. None of these volunteers get paid to carry out their role as Community First Responders, carry out BLS (Basic Life Saving) courses or attend fund raising events.
What our Volunteers have done for their community in 2023
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Community Events and Comments
No upcoming events...
If you would like us to host an event for you, drop us a message
These ladies are absolute assets for what you do and the service you provide, to which you have my gratitude. Keep up the fantastic work.
Thanks for attending Castle View School last week, my son came home telling me all he had learnt.
Automatic External Defibrillator (AED)
A quote from the Resuscitation Council UK shows that
“Despite over 70% of cases receiving CPR from members of the public, the use of public-access defibrillators remained low – in fewer than one in 10 cases”
See if an AED is near you… click a beating heart
We want to change this...
… and thanks to our amazing community, local businesses and CFR supporters, we have 28 public access AED’s, the majority of which have been installed (free of charge) by Scott Somerville.
This means that should a cardiac arrest happen somewhere on the Island, an AED should be near by. Having dialled 999, the Emergency Operator will give you the nearest location.
In 2024, we also installed two ‘Bleed kits’, one in the Town Centre and one on the Charfleets Industrial Estate.
These are all regularly checked and maintained by the Canvey Island Community First Responders team.
A list of who donated AEDs & Bleed Kits
Donated by individuals/groups
- Apex Steel – by A&R Motors (in memory of Ray Large)
- Apex Steel (Bleed Kit) – by June Johnson
- Bespoke Couriers – by the Family of Michael John Geary
- Castle View School – by the Staff & Students
- Costa – by D&L Flat Roofing
- Jones Corner Nisa – by The Rotary Club
- Golf Club – by Members of the Golf Club
- Maurice Road – by Terry Morris & Linda Morris
- Nationwide (Bleed kit) – by the Family of Joan Jones
- Our Lady of Canvey and the English Martyrs – by the Church Parishioners
- Rugby Club – by Canvey Island Rugby Club
- St Katherines School – by Tracey Grimmet
- Sweetbriar Lodge – by Canvey Island Carnival Association
- War Memorial – by the Peters Family (in memory of Colin Peters & Joss Peters)
- Yacht Club – by The Rotary Club, Island Yacht Club and Brian & Ann Keenleyside
Donated by the Canvey Community
- Bay Cafe – by Sheree Somerville & the Canvey Community
- Canvey Library
- Canvey Spiritualist Church
- Concord Football Club
- Conservative Club
- Design 4 Print
- Fantasy Island
- GMD
- Hole Haven
- King Georges Playing Fields
- Kings Park
- Pumpkins Nursery – by Sheree Somerville & the Canvey Community
- Saxons – by Sheree Somerville & the Canvey Community
- Waterside Leisure Centre
- Wilson Wood
In an Emergency call 999
NOTE: We are not directly contactable by the general public, we are dispatched by the 999 Emergency Operator.
Our Kit and Training
All our kit is purchased by ourselves, from money raised by events or donations. When its life expired we have to fund replacements. We are very proud of the equipment we have and ensure its looked after to the highest standard.
After our initial training, we continue to develop our skills with monthly training sessions, carried out by our awesome Link Paramedics and EMT. These guys are incredibly enthusiastic about CFRs and the care we give to our patients.
Not only do they provide the highest level of training, but they make every training session interesting and fun, always exploring new avenues to help us gain the knowledge we require.
We thank them for their time, effort and of course… patience.
Supporting the CFRs
You may have heard of the saying that ‘every little helps’… well in our case, this could not be more true! All of our volunteers give up their time for free, which is amazing, but it “doesn’t pay the bills”! Replacement kit, new/replacement uniform and ongoing maintenance of the car all require funding. This can only be achieved with your help.
This mobile number must NOT be used for emergencies, it is only used for recruitment or donations
Our Instagram
Another great Public Awareness Session today at The Island Yacht Club on Canvey. Thank you to everyone who attended. We hope you enjoyed it. Keeping Canvey Number One 💙
A massive thank you to Cristina Balina, who raised over £115 for our team over Halloween. What a great way to have a collection. Great fun and it looked amazing. Thank you to everyone who has supported this and Cristina for arranging it. You are a star. Keeping Canvey Number One 💙
An honour to represent EEAST today at the Canvey Island Remembrance Day Parade. Thank you to everyone who attended. Lest we Forget ❤️
We would like to thank one of our previous CFRs, Lucy and her family for the incredible donation recently. In September, Lucy`s mum Janet sadly passed away. At her funeral, the family decided to collect money for our group. They have raised over £850 which has now been donated to us. Janet was much loved by all of her family and friends. Thank you all for your amazing gesture and for thinking of us in your time of sadness. ❤️
Our October 2024 jobs. Another variety of call outs for our incredible volunteers. Not only were the team covering all these calls, they also trained over 500 people in Basic Life Support. Keeping Canvey Number One 💙
September 2024 was a busy month for our volunteers, but we`ve still managed to be there for our community. The team have attended a variety of jobs during the last month. Keeping Canvey Number One 💙
https://linktr.ee/canveycfr
Thanks to Canvey Island Rugby Club for allowing us to carry out another great public awareness session. 20 more members of the community trained in Basic Life Support. Keeping Canvey Number One 💙
WOW. We did it! Thank you all for your support. Canvey Island Community First Responders won the Star of EEAST Award 2024.
Our team leader Diane said, "I am extremely proud of my team and honoured to accept this award on behalf of our Canvey Community," Keeping Canvey Number One 💙
Some of our team presented with their Kings Coronation Medals and coins. We are honoured to receive them from the Trust. Keeping Canvey Number One 💙
A variety of jobs last month, which kept our incredible volunteers busy. Thank you all for your continued support. Keeping Canvey Number One 💙
We would sincerely like to express our thanks to our brand new sponsor, who is donating monthly to the team to help continue our legacy. The Wellbeing rooms, located on the island, are there for all your wellness and personal training needs.
If you or your company would like to help us by donating or becoming a sponsor, please give us a message on one of our social media sites.
Keeping Canvey Number One 💙
https://linktr.ee/canveycfr
Yet another busy month for our volunteers. Over 200 hours of covering the island. Thank you all for voting already, but if you haven`t, please click on the link and give Canvey CFRs a vote. We need you....
https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=PBcXWq93d0mZPeH4ulnvX7uGo1OXBu9Hk5cpuohoBclURUhPMzVIS1RUWldJQk1YSVhQOExGRTVKTC4u
Great to be back at Castle View School. Year 7 students will have completed their awareness sessions by Friday. Keeping Canvey Number One 💙
Another busy month for our volunteers on Canvey. Not only have the team covered the Island for 999 calls and attended these jobs we have carried out more public awareness sessions, been to our control room for a visit, had a couple of observational ride outs with the ambulance and completed a falls /manual handling update course. Thank you all for your support. Keeping Canvey Number One 💙
What a brilliant busy month. Not only all of this, our volunteers have put in loads of hours on call, responding to emergency 999 calls. Thank you to everyone who has supported us this month. Keeping Canvey Number One 💙
https://linktr.ee/canveycfr
Brilliant visit to the Emergency Operations Centre today. The group managed to observe 999 call taking and watch our dispatch team send appropriate ambulance responses to the calls. Thank you to everyone at EOC for a really interesting and informative few hours.
Keeping Canvey Number One 💙
A lovely group of ladies at our latest awareness session last night. Thank you to the Thorpe Bay WI ladies who came along and learned some basic skills. Well done, we hope you enjoyed it. Keeping Canvey Number One 💙
Diane Gonzalez is a true hero. Diane is the team leader for the Canvey Island Community First Responders who respond to life-threatening 999 calls on Canvey. Diane and the team do this amazing feat all voluntary. Imagine saving lives or making that difference every single day without a penny coming back to you! Diane is also heavily involved in the Phoenix Club as well as helping with anything and everything the community needs. Diane is the nicest person you could ever meet and deserves the recognition on volunteer week.
Thank you all for your help and support. 💙
Another month of busy jobs. Not only have the team been looking after our residents, we have also carried out more public awareness sessions. All of this is in our own time. Keeping Canvey Number One 💙
https://linktr.ee/canveycfr
Another fantastic Basic Life Support Awareness session this week. Helping some pupils at USP College, Canvey. Learn how to make a difference in an emergency.
Staff and pupils said:
"Thank you so much for the visit. Students all advised they had learnt new skills and the session kept them all engaged and interested. The delivery was brilliant and all the team friendly and approachable. 😊"
Thank you for your lovely words and we are glad you all enjoyed it. Keeping Canvey Number One 💙
Become a Community First Responder (CFR)
If you have a caring nature, some spare time and want to give something back to your community, becoming a volunteer Community First Responder (CFR) can be both incredibly rewarding, and at times, challenging.
What is a Community First Responder (CFR) ?
We are Volunteers who live or work on Canvey Island and attend certain types of emergency calls. The aim is for us to reach a potentially life threatening emergency in the first vital minutes before the ambulance arrives.
What is the recruitment criteria ?
You must be over 18 years of age and have a current full driving license with less than three penalty points, and be willing to have an interview with our Recruitment Officer.
If successful, you will need to complete a training course, obtain an enhanced DBS check and attend an Occupational Health Review.
Do you get paid ?
No, we do NOT get paid and are completely voluntary, whether on-call, attending training or raising funds for the group.
Do you receive training ?
Yes – we attend a 5 day intensive training course with the East of England Ambulance Service Trust (EEAST).
We then carry out regular training, Continuous Personal Development (CPD) and assessments. These are all carried out by our amazing link Paramedics & Trainers.
Can you use 'blues and twos' ?
NO – We have to abide by the same traffic regulations as the general public.
How much time do I have to commit to ?
All we ask for is a minimum of 10 hours on call per month. If you are able to commit to more, that’s fantastic.
Do you wear a uniform ?
Yes, as part of our group, we want you to wear a uniform. It’s not only smart looking, but comfortable and practical too.
Do I need to use my own vehicle ?
No, we are extremely fortunate to have our own CFR car, which was funded via an incredible donation.
Are the hours Mon-Fri, 9 to 5 ?
No, the hours are whatever suits you. We have a shared calendar which everyone signs up to, which shows the times you want to commit to.
How do I become a Canvey Island CFR ?
Give us a call (leave a message if no one answers) or drop us an email. Use the contact details below, and we will get back to you as soon as we can.
This mobile number must NOT be used for emergencies, it is only used for recruitment or donations
Basic Life Saving (BLS) Skills
Here is a collection of videos you may find interesting. Each one of these has the potential in helping you save a life, with simple steps that anyone can follow. They are well worth a watch. o