Opticians Haine & Smith launched their partnership with SWIFT Medics at their Marlborough branch by presenting the charity with a fully kitted out medical bag, with vital life-saving equipment.

SWIFT Medics are volunteer doctors who provide out of hospital emergency medical care in Wiltshire at the scene of serious accidents or for sudden severe medical conditions and the opticians has chosen them as their charity of the year.

Giles Smith, Haine & Smith Partner, said: “The partnership is so impressed by the incredible service the SWIFT Medics provide locally, entirely on a voluntary basis and without any funding from the government.

“We are therefore extremely keen for the trust to support the charity in continuing to save lives or prevent life-changing injuries by helping to equip a doctor to attend an emergency.”

Throughout the year customers will be able to make donations to the trust at any of Haine and Smith’s branches.

SWIFT Medics doctor Jonathan Glover said: “In a typical year there are about 1,000 incidents in Wiltshire where the presence of a doctor alongside the ambulance team could significantly improve the patient’s chance of survival but due to our limited funding we are only able to attend approximately one in four of these incidents.

“Haine & Smith’s generous donation of a new medical bag is a huge help towards equipping another volunteer doctor.”