A Winton student has raised over £860 towards a defibrillator at his school following support from across the town.

Ryan Chapman organised a raffle using goods donated from Andover residents and businesses in order to buy the life-saving device after becoming inspired by lessons in first aid he had during lockdown. The raffle was held on Friday, July 9, with a variety of goods including a tablet computer available to win.

Louis Spencer, Winton Academy’s Head of Year Seven, told the Advertiser: “We are very proud of Ryan for his initiative and hard work and for living one of our four core Winton Values – ‘Be Big Hearted’. He has shown us what can be achieved if you put your mind to it.”

Defibrillators are devices which provide a high energy electric shock to someone suffering from a cardiac arrest, where the heart stops pumping blood around the body. For each minute someone having a cardiac arrest is not defibrillated, their chance of survival decreases by 10 per cent.

The 11-year-old was inspired to take on his fundraising challenge after learning about the devices at school, as his mum Lilly explained.

“My son was in lockdown and Winton were teaching first aid,” she said. “From that he learnt that he wanted to help the community more and there weren’t many defibrillators around, as well as the impact they can have on saving people’s lives.

“By Winton, they don’t have any defibrillators except at the fire station, so he wanted to get one in the local area.”

Ryan said the lessons “inspired” him to help the community, so he began writing letters and visiting Andover businesses to gather support. Lilly said that she was ‘shocked’ by the response they received.

Businesses including Test Valley Models, Canto Gelato and Tesco gave him prizes and vouchers for his fundraising challenge.

He is now 86 per cent of his way to his fundraising goal of £1,000 following the raffle, which he was unfortunately unable to attend due to Covid rules. However, Ryan previously said he planned other activities, like a sponsored swim, so that he can get his fundraiser over the line.