Whitby hosts first ever hot chocolate festival

Money raised through the event will help pay to maintain defibrillators in the town

A North Yorkshire town is hosting its first ever hot chocolate festival, with each cup aiming to save lives.

Taking place in Whitby, the two-week event features chocolate tasting, film screenings, talk, a chocolate-themed disco and includes a trail to guide visitors around various shops and cafes selling hot chocolate.

Money raised from the event will go towards the Whitby Defibrillator Project, which maintains 40 devices in the town and its surrounding areas.

Festival organiser and project chair Pam Boland, whose brother recently suffered a cardiac arrest, said: "It was only going to be a chocolate competition, but it has grown into what we have got now."

Ms Boland said her brother, Ian Drewry, had been saved thanks to a defibrillator when he collapse during a trip to Swindon.

"If someone hadn't had a go [with the defibrillator] with my brother, he wouldn't be her," she said.

"The general public appreciate this equipment, but they are a bit afraid of it."

Mr Drewry said had "no recollection" of what happened until waking up three days later in intensive care.

He credits the actions of two strangers who performed CPR on him and the presence of the defibrillator at the train station.

"I am convinced I was in the right place at the right time for that to happen as I could have been at home on my own," he said.

Once a defibrillator battery is used it must be replaced before the machine can be used again

Batteries need to be replaced in defibrillators every four to five years, Ms Boland said.

However, if the device is used it needs to be replaced before it can go back into circulation. The cost of a new battery is around £165.

Ms Boland said the festival grew from the idea to hold "one big event" to raise the money needed to replace the batteries in all the machines.

Speaking at an event on Sunday, she said: "Today has been spectacular, to see small businesses come together who really didn't think they could do it. I really love that people have come together."

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