JACK'S Appeal to provide a lifesaving defibrillator to every secondary school in Gwent and the Rhymney Valley is close to achieving its target following a bumper £10,000 award from Aneurin Bevan University Health Board.

The appeal, led by the Argus and Jack Thomas's parents June and Grant Thomas, was launched in the Oakdale teenager's memory just a year ago.

More than £21,000 has been raised since January last year from countless contributors across Gwent and beyond.

And the health board's award - made through its public health role - has taken the total raised above £31,000, around £3,000 away from being able to supply all 43 schools in the area.

"It's a fantastic boost for the appeal and we're very grateful to the health board. It means we are almost there," said Mrs Thomas.

"Thirteen schools will benefit from this money alone, and with the £21,000 raised during the last year, it's been an incredible effort.

"Nineteen schools have received their defibrillators so far, we're trying to organise for more to be handed over, and now we can look at making sure every secondary school in Gwent and the Rhymney Valley has one."

The appeal was launched in memory of Jack, who died in February 2012 while watching a rugby match at his girlfriend's home in Newbridge, after suddenly feeling unwell. A specific cause of death could not be identified.

Mr and Mrs Thomas subsequently set up CRY in the Valleys: Jack Thomas Memorial Fund, to help the charity Cardiac Risk in the Young, which backs the provision of heart screening in schools. Jack's Appeal followed on from the couple's presentation of a defibrillator to their son's school, Oakdale comprehensive, in autumn 2013.

Since the appeal started, many schools have held fundraising events to support it and individuals, companies, community groups, pubs and other organisations have done likewise, or simply made a donation.

"The appeal has had fantastic community support, we have been amazed at the response," said Mrs Thomas.

"Schools have taken part, but it has gone much wider than that, and it has had knock-on effects. I've had people contact me saying they have got a defibrillator in their factory, and a bus company wants to get one in each of its depots.

"Raising awareness of the lifesaving role defibrillators can play has been very important as well."

The anniversary of Jack's death is approaching, and Mrs Thomas said she and her husband and Jack's brother Owain, 15, take strength from the fundraising effort.

"It is keeping Jack's memory alive, because it is very important to us that he is not forgotten," she said.

AWARENESS of the potentially lifesaving role that a defibrillator can play in restoring normal heart rhythm to a person in cardiac arrest is growing, and increasing numbers of such machines are being provided at leisure centres, shopping centres and community venues.

Plugging what Mr and Mrs Thomas see as an unacceptable gap in defibrillator availability in schools is the aim of Jack's Appeal, and it is one that chimes with wider public health aims in Wales.

The health board's award of £10,000 to Jack's Appeal has come through its public health role, and three other Gwent organisations - Alway Heart Support Group (£1,000), Heartwise Cardiac Rehab (£1,500), and Little Mill and Goytre First Responders Group (£1,400) - have received funding from the same source.

The board's public health director Dr Gill Stephenson said it has made "an enormous investment" in cardiac services this year and part of its planning involved investing in defibrillators in the community.

Mrs Thomas said the focus now is on a final fundraising push to ensure Jack's Appeal can fulfil its aim for secondary schools in Gwent.

If you would like to help fundraise for Jack’s Appeal, get involved on the new website, called Remembering Jack, at www.rememberingjack.co.uk.

You can also donate by visiting www.welshhearts.org/jacksappeal. Alternatively, donate by sending a cheque payable to 'Welsh Hearts' to Temple Court, 13a Cathedral Road, Cardiff, CF11 9HA. Put the reference 'Jack Thomas defibs appeal' on the back of the envelope.