A WORCESTER school for children with special needs served up a tasty meal as part of a fund-raising drive to provide life-saving support for the community.

Riverside School, in Thorneloe Road, Barbourne, launched its campaign with West Mercia Police to collect enough funds to buy a defibrillator and other equipment needed for the First Response Scheme.

Deputy headteacher Kalia Crawford said teaching assistant Heather Jones had trained as a first responder, which means she can be called to incidents within the Barbourne area to provide life-saving support until an ambulance arrives.

The school has now decided to make sure Mrs Jones has the portable medical equipment she needs to be able to save someone's life, including a defibrillator, used to restart someone's heart after they have had an attack.

Ms Crawford said: "Our first fund-raising event was a lunch at the school for 20 people. West Mercia police are contributing to the fund-raising and they have helped us with a Lottery fund application."

"It is great that children with social, emotional and behavioural problems are involved in supporting the community."

The lunch raised £200 and the school is now planning more events. The equipment is expected to cost about £2,000.