There’s a special heart-shaped day on the horizon and that also marks almost a year since we began rolling out our initiative to install defibs in rugby clubs across Scotland. To find out how it’s going, we need to go back to the start – on 16 October 2024 – when The Hearts & Balls Charitable Trust joined forces with Scottish Rugby to launch this life-saving initiative. The fact that date also marked World Restart a Heart Day was no coincidence.
Our campaign, backed by the British Heart Foundation (BHF), was for all rugby clubs in Scotland to have access to at least one defibrillator – a machine which can shock the heart to restart a normal rhythm – and the provision of CPR training. Working closely with Dr. Karen Barclay and Steven Turnbull at Scottish Rugby, the Trust aimed to fund over 30 new defibrillators for clubs, with four further clubs receiving grants to cover replacement batteries, pads or an external cabinet.
Donations of £25,000 received by Hearts + Balls during 2024 helped facilitate this total investment of £33,000 – that’s the proceeds of everything from club raffles to golf days, sponsored walks to mountain climbs, and the kindness of many to make us recipients of events or to remember us in their will.
The charity sourced the devices through the British Heart Foundation and during 2025 – our silver anniversary year – they were installed at grounds the length and breadth of Scotland. Many of the defibs have been mounted externally at clubhouses, enabling the wider local communities to save even more lives.
Because we know this will happen.
At the Scottish Gas Murrayfield launch of our defibrillator campaign we were joined by Hamish Bell, whose story underlined the importance of the initiative.
Back home in Perthshire during his Uni holidays in 2021, the then-20-year-old headed off to his local Blairgowrie club for some summer training.
“I just remember turning up, putting my water bottle down, starting to play – then nothing,” he recalls.
Hamish had suffered a totally unexpected and near-fatal cardiac arrest on the Coupar Sports Ground pitch.
“A lot of the guys I played with are first responders, police and one of the spectators was a dental nurse – so it was all these people who came together as a team when I needed it,” he says.
Critically, the club also had access to a defibrillator which had been purchased through their own earlier fundraising activity.
Keen to give back, Hamish not only took on the role of Ambassador for Hearts + Balls in 2025 but also hit the fundraising heights himself – quite literally – raising over £2,500 by climbing Scotland’s three highest peaks in 24 hours last summer.
Of course, the defibs require appropriate training and we’re indebted to Dr Karen Barclay (Rugby Development Welfare Manager, Scottish Rugby) who has been busy sharing her skills with club members over the last twelve months. She adds:
“We know that early intervention does save lives. Hamish is living proof of that.”
As Hamish himself says, “Hearts + Balls, like me, wants every rugby club in Scotland to have access to this vital piece of equipment. It will save a life, and it will save your team-mates.”
Those clubs who have had devices fitted and training ongoing, thanks to the joint initiative are: Aberfeldy RC, Arbroath RFC, McLaren RFC, Corstorphine RFC, Livingston RFC, Bigger RFC, GHA RFC, Whitecraigs RFC, Marr RFC, Wigtownshire RFC, Ellon RFC, RAF Lossiemouth RFC, Ross Sutherland RFC, Rosyth Sharks, Currie RFC, Leith RFC, Portobello FP RFC, Hawick Linden RFC, Hawick RFC, Langholm RFC, Peebles RFC, Preston Lodge RFC, Hillhead Jordanhill RFC, Mid Argyll RFC, Uddingston RFC, Ardrossan Academicals RFC, Ayr RFC, Bishopton RFC and Irvine RFC.
Check out our defib story in the Scotland v England match day programme on 14 February, too.
