Reading and Wycombe Unite for 24-Hour CPR Challenge
Reading and Wycombe Wanderers will go head-to-head later this month – but first, they’re teaming up for a different kind of challenge: keeping a CPR manikin “alive” for 24 hours.
Both clubs are backing South Central Ambulance Service’s charity CPR-A-THON, a round-the-clock test of stamina, teamwork and technique that will unfold at their respective grounds in the days leading up to their League One clash.
From 10:00 on 24 September until 10:00 on 25 September, teams of up to 10 people will take turns delivering 30 chest compressions on a CPR manikin before handing over to the next teammate, maintaining an unbroken chain of compressions for a full day and night. No gaps. No pauses. Just constant, lifesaving rhythm.
The timing is no accident. Once the final compression is done, attention will quickly swing back to football, with the Royals and the Chairboys meeting at Adams Park at 15:00 on 26 September.
Each participant is being asked to raise at least £150, setting a £1,500 target for a full team of 10. The money goes to the South Central Ambulance Service charity, but the organisers are just as focused on what people learn as what they give.
Sarah Callaghan, the charity’s volunteer manager, wants the event to be about far more than a total on a fundraising page. She says the aim is to create something that “brings communities together” while giving people the confidence to step in when it matters most.
“This isn't just a fundraising challenge. It's about giving people the confidence to act when someone suffers a cardiac arrest,” she said. “Every compression counts, and by taking part people will learn and practice a skill that could one day save the life of a colleague, friend or loved one.”
Reading FC managing director Neil Peters underlined how quickly football rivalries fade when the subject turns to saving lives.
“There may be plenty of rivalry on the pitch, but when it comes to saving lives, Reading and Wycombe are firmly on the same team,” he said.
Wycombe’s head of media Matt Cecil issued a direct call to the local business community and the club’s supporters, urging them to step forward, form teams and take their place in the 24-hour relay at Adams Park.
“We're calling on businesses and Chairboys supporters to get involved, put a team together and come to Adams Park to take on a challenge that will not only raise money for an important local charity, but will also give people skills that could save a life,” he said.
For once, the most important pressure around Adams Park and Reading’s ground won’t be on a match ball or a final scoreline – it will be the pressure of hands on a chest, and the knowledge that learning to do it properly could change everything for someone, one day, when the sirens haven’t arrived yet.
