St John Ambulance volunteers in Maidenhead are giving free demonstrations of life saving skills on Saturday, October 13 as part of the Restart a Heart campaign.

It is part of an ambitious plan to teach the skill to more than 200,000 people during this month, by holding demonstrations all over the country.

In Maidenhead volunteers will be carrying out the demonstrations at the St John Ambulance headquarters in York Road between 11am and 4pm.

The sessions last an hour, are free to attend and will include practical information on how to deliver Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and deliver shocks to the heart with a defibrillator.

Currently, only one in 10 people in the UK survives a cardiac arrest out of hospital and St John Ambulance and its Restart A Heart partners want to change that. Chances of survival double when someone gives immediate CPR and significantly increase further when a defibrillator is used.

The campaign will be promoted widely on social media. To join in the conversation, search for the hashtag #RestartAHeart. To find out more about the campaign online and also to see a full list of demos please visit www.sja.org.uk/restartaheart.

For those looking for quick, easily accessible information, the free, highly popular St John Ambulance app is available on smartphones (Android, Apple and Blackberry), and the website – www.sja.org.uk – offers demo videos, an interactive game, and lots of free advice.