Burnley families' chance to learn lifesaving skills on special first aid course

These are the vital skills that will be taught at a family first aid course in Burnley later this month.

Run by the charity, Millie's Trust, the course will be held at Burnley Fire Station on Wednesday, October 31st from 10am to 4pm.

Lifesaving skills will be taught by experts from the charity that was founded in 2012 by Joanne and Dan Thompson in memory of their daughter Millie who died when she was just nine-months-old after choking on food at nursery.

After the tragedy the couple focused their energy on setting up the charity that is devoted to raising awareness of how important first aid is and also running training courses.

Joanne, who is from Burnley, and Dan, along with a team of fully trained volunteers, now plan and host child and baby first aid courses for anyone, including parents and grandparents aswell as nursery workers.

And since then around 12,000 people have been taught first aid skills across the UK and Ireland. Burnley Fire Station hosted the same course in the summer last year.

The couple, who live in Wilmslow, took their campaign to the heart of the Government, meeting with ministers to make their mission, which includes compulsory first aid training for all schoolchildren, law.

Millie’s Mark is now the new standard for excellence in Paediatric First Aid for early years settings administered by the National Day Nurseries Association and it was created by the Department for Education following a very successful petition by the couple.

Joanne, who is a former pupil of Padiham Primary and Ivy Bank high schools, was named as Lorraine Kelly’s Inspirational Woman of the Year in 2014 in recognition of her pioneering work.

To book a place on the first aid course go to www.milliestrust.com or call 0161 485 1321 where you can get details of the cost and free places available.