Residents are being offered free potentially life-saving lessons.

Volunteers from St John Ambulance are giving people in Walthamstow the chance to learn how to help someone in cardiac arrest, for 2019’s Restart A Heart campaign.

These sessions are free and will include practical information on how to deliver Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and deliver shocks to the heart with a defibrillator.

In Walthamstow, St John Ambulance volunteers will be providing demonstrations on Saturday, November 2, at One Hoe Street, E17 4SD, from 11am – 5pm.

Sally Bartlett, St John Ambulance head of volunteering for London, said: “Our volunteers here and around the country are pleased to be participating again in this year’s Restart A Heart campaign, making the local community more resilient and inspiring community response to cardiac arrest emergencies.

“It is vital that as many people as possible learn how to deliver CPR and use a defibrillator because of the unpredictable nature of cardiac arrests. By ensuring more people have these skills and are not afraid to use them if they find someone who has collapsed and is not breathing, we can hopefully increase the number of people ready to step forward and intervene.

“In the space of only an hour you can pick up these skills from us for free so please make it a priority to find a Restart A Heart demonstration near to you.”

Currently, less than one in 10 people in the UK survives a cardiac arrest out of hospital.

Chances of survival double when someone gives immediate CPR and significantly increases further when a defibrillator is used.