EARLIER this year, the Royal Burgh of Selkirk Ex-Standard-Bearers Association donated a cheque for £400 to Scottish HART and on the same evening, Borders builder Richard Young pledged a further £200 to the charity.

Coincidentally Louise Stephens of the Town Arms Inn, the oldest surviving public house in Selkirk, contacted Wilma Gunn at Scottish HART to say that some of her customers were interested in raising money for a defibrillator to be placed in the public bar.

If a person suffers cardiac arrest then recovery has to start almost immediately with CPR and access to a defibrillator has to be within eight minutes. I

In its central position the Town Arms is, like Rodgerson the Newsagents at the other side of Market Place, perfectly placed to deliver the means to save a life within the guide-times.

On Saturday, September 10, Royal Burgh Standard Bearer Rory Monks, accompanied by the vice-chairman of the Association, Gary Guthrie, was on hand along with Richard Young to see the life-saving machine officially handed over. The device was given to Louise and customer Fraser Bennett by Wilma Gunn MBE, the founder and chairman of the charity.

Customers, staff and staff from neighbouring shops and outlets around Market Place have all been trained in life-saving techniques.