A NORTH Herefordshire school has scooped an award for its strong first aid ethos.

Lucton School won the Low Risk Organisation of the Year Award for First Aid Excellence 2017 at the St John Ambulance Everyday Heroes Awards in London.

To make the shortlist, an organisation has to have demonstrated an outstanding level of investment in first aid awareness, equipment and training of staff.

But Lucton came out on top of a strong field with finalists in this category including nationally known names such as Accenture and David Lloyd Clubs. It is the second time that Lucton has made it through to the final.

Receiving the award, Major Craig Derrigan, contingent commander of Lucton School’s combined cadet force, who is also the school’s primary first aid trainer, said: “It's absolutely fantastic for Lucton and it's great to help raise awareness of the importance of first aid.”

More than 90% of the staff at Lucton are trained first aiders, including the teachers, bus drivers, maintenance team, administrators. Nearly 20% of staff have received training for the on-site defibrillators, while all staff at the nursery receive top-up paediatric training, far in excess of the national requirement.