The Directors and Staff of Noble Homes (D Noble Ltd) are pleased to acknowledge with enormous gratitude the efforts by one of their members of staff. Colin Richardson commenced working for Noble Homes in July 1974.

Colin retires at the end of May and will have worked for D Noble Ltd with unbroken service for almost 50 years. Colin started out as a 16 year old apprentice, commencing with work on some foundations on a bungalow in Fairburn and progressed through his apprenticeship, becoming a fully qualified bricklayer. Whilst in his apprenticeship, Colin won the Silver Trowel for the Best Apprentice at Whitwood Technical College.

Colin resides in Normanton with his wife Lynne and has a daughter Kim and son Michael and three grandchildren Evie, Izzie and Aurora.

Noble Homes' Managing Director Chris Noble has recently funded the installation of a new defibrillator on the wall outside the Noble Homes head offices on Perseverance Street, Castleford.

The life saving device is registered on the 999 database meaning that if anyone was to call for help, the emergency operator can identify its location and provide the caller with the code to open it.

Chris, who is also chairman of the Castleford Taskforce, was prompted to fund the installation after witnessing a close friend suffer a heart attack at his local gym, fortunately there was a defibrillator available and he is now in good health.

In an interview Chris added "We could have bought a relatively inexpensive defibrillator but in our research we found that the nearest defibrillator was some distance away and it is recommended that a defibrillator should be available within a 5 minute return walk in the event of one being required. We therefore decided to take the initiative and partner with AED Donate in order to have one installed on the outside of our office for the benefit of the community and are pleased to confirm now that the same is fitted and working."

In the event of anyone needing access to a defibrillator, all they should do is to phone 999. The call handler will be able to tell the caller the correct code in order to open the cabinet and extract the defibrillator, they will then talk them through the procedure.

AED Donate is a national charity committed to improving survival from out of hospital cardiac arrests. It supports the placement and use of Automated External Defibrillators (AED) to local communities.

They achieve this by giving communities the opportunity to fundraise or purchase an AED which can then be registered with their local ambulance trust for use in an emergency.

Wakefield Council Leader, Coun Denise Jeffery, said: "I’d like to thank Chris for his generous contribution in providing life-saving equipment to our area.

"Having a defibrillator available and accessible to our community, on the street, means the potential to save lives.

"According to the British Heart Foundation, defibrillation or CPR that happens quickly can almost double a person’s chances of surviving an out of hospital cardiac arrest.

"We hope this will never happen but now we have the peace of mind that, if it does, we can give our residents the best chance of survival."

Local MP Yvette Cooper thanked Chris and the team at Noble Homes for funding a new defibrillator, adding "It is a real boost for coverage in Castleford. These machines save lives. No one ever wants to be in the position of needing to use one, but it's really reassuring to know that the equipment is there if needed."