TENANT volunteers from Berwickshire Housing Association have raised £500 to help buy a new defibrillator.

The group has been working to rack-up enough cash to install the life-saving machine will at Duns Rugby Club.

And recently tenant volunteer Rodney Short presented a cheque to Stevie Wood from the club – following months of collections.

A spokesperson for the tenants association told us: “Berwickshire Housing Association’s tenant volunteers are one of several groups helping to finance the provision of a defibrillator to be sited at Duns Rugby Club.

“Located on the gable end of the DRFC clubrooms, the Public Access Defibrillator and trained personnel will provide a readily available emergency response to an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest within an area of Duns that has the potential for having large numbers of staff, players, and spectators alike all within a sports hub and school environment.

“The defibrillator will serve not only the rugby club but also the swimming pool, football club, squash and racket club and the primary and high schools.”

The Border Telegraph and the Peeblesshire News launched the ‘Heart of the Community’ campaign earlier this year in a bid to install a defibrillator in every part of the Borders.

As we reported when we launched the campaign, the region is already the Scottish capital for surviving cardiac arrests.

Since 2014, survival rates have soared from four per cent to 29 per cent (the Scottish-wide figure is 16 per cent).

But we want to go one better and see the region become the world leader. Sweden and Seattle currently top the table with 30 per cent.

And thanks to your response, there are now around 300 defibrillators in the region.