Gardener Green digging deep for charity run

Joseph Green (pictured) has long been a support of Start A Heart 24/7, the charity set up in memory of amateur dramatics stalwart Stuart Lister following his death from a heart attack two years ago.

But the 49-year-old has moved on from offering free gardening sessions as raffle prizes to pounding the pavements in preparation for Sunday’s Sheffield Half-Marathon.

He is aiming to raise enough cash to provide a publicly-accessible heart-starting defibrillator outside his local Co-op store on Claypit Lane in Rawmarsh.

Start A Heart 24/7 wants to provide a network of defibrillators which can be accessed by the public in emergencies and is launching another at Herringthorpe United Reformed Church on Sunday.

Joseph said he had teamed up with Stuart’s daughter and widow, charity founders Carrie Platts and Trish Lister, to contribute to fund-raising efforts for two family fun days in the past year but had now decided to put his hobby of running to good use, too.

“I will be taking a bucket along to make a collection while I’m going round,” he said.

“I’d like to raise about £2,000, which would be enough to provide a defibrillator in Rawmarsh but I also want to help them put more in other places around the borough.

“I’m also training to be a community first responder for the Yorkshire Ambulance Service and I’d like to raise enough in the long run to have a defibrillator in my van for use if I need it.”

Joseph said Start A Heart 24/7 appealed to him as people could see the end result of fund-raising in their own community.

Public defibrillators are already in place at Woodlaithes Village, Letwell Village Hall, the Rockingham Arms at Wentworth and Wickersley Sports Ground, while Todwick and Dinnington also have their own and Rawmarsh and Whiston will soon receive them,