10/09/2025

Royal Life Saving Society UK (RLSS UK) calls on leisure operators nationwide to participate in this October’s Restart a Heart campaign, a nationwide initiative to improve survival rates from out-of-hospital cardiac arrests. 

Each year, approximately 30,000 people suffer an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest – that’s around 84 individuals every day. But survival rates are low, with just one in ten people recovering*.  

RLSS UK is a long-term partner of the Resuscitation Council UK (RCUK), which leads the annual Restart a Heart campaign. This year, RLSS UK is extending its involvement beyond promoting the campaign to actively encouraging operators and the broader leisure industry to unite on 16 October to teach CPR to their customers, local community and new audiences. 

Nick Grazier, Senior Head of Commercial at RLSS UK, said, “Anyone can be affected by a cardiac arrest at any time. Without immediate action, the person will die. Almost half of UK adults (43 per cent) have never learned CPR, yet many sports and physical activity professionals are trained to teach these techniques. Restart a Heart on 16 October is a valuable opportunity to deliver these life-saving skills to new and existing customers and help improve cardiac arrest survival rates across the UK.” 

Andy Read, former Head of Safety at Places Leisure, is a leading figure in UK swimming pool safety management. He served on the ukactive Governance and Standards Committee, was Chair of the Leisure Expert Panel, and an independent member of the RLSS UK Operator Group. He commented, “At Places Leisure, I oversaw the rollout of defibrillators across more than 150 leisure centres in the early 2000s, never imagining I would one day need one myself. In August 2018, my life was saved with four shocks from a defibrillator. That is why supporting Restart a Heart on 16 October means so much to me.” 

After his cardiac arrest, Read helped establish Sudbury Defibrillators, a nationally registered charity dedicated to increasing public access to defibrillators. He chairs this charity. 

RLSS UK has produced many resources to make it as easy as possible for sports and leisure operators to organise training events and run engaging sessions for people of all ages and abilities. Accessed via a dedicated webpage: www.rlss.org.uk/restart-a-heart-resources, these include an information video for display in reception areas, wallet-sized cards detailing how to perform CPR, editable posters to promote activities, customisable social media graphics, a sample press release, and social media posts.  

“Operators are always looking for new ways to reach and engage new audiences. Hosting a Restart a Heart training session this October is a perfect way for facilities to demonstrate their commitment to community safety and wellbeing, connect with new audiences and give people the skills to save lives,” added Nick Grazier. 

Restart a Heart takes place on 16 October 2025, and events will run throughout the month to celebrate the campaign. For more information or to get involved, contact [email protected].