A SELFLESS Gwendraeth Valley man has used his hobby as a money making scheme to raise enough funds to purchase life-saving equipment for his community.

Gwyn Edwards, of Cross Hands, takes photographs of Tumble RFC religiously and decided to sell his pictures to raise money for defibrillators.

The Electric Engineer has taken over 2,000 snaps of the firsts, youth, junior and tournament games played by the rugby team and has been pushing the cause to provide care for the community.

Over several years, Gwyn has raised enough money to purchase defibrillators for Tumble, Cross Hands and Porthyrhyd.

The defibrillator in Tumble was installed last year and the defibrillator in Cross Hands was installed in October outside Nigel Williams Pharmacy.

The 53-year-old said: “I decided to raise money for defibrillators in the area to raise awareness of cardiac arrests and to ensure everyone knows basic first aid.

“I have 16-year-old triplets who play for Tumble RFC so I have done it for them and everyone else in the community.

“I would like to say a many thanks to everyone who donated and to anyone who bought my photographs and to Nigel Williams Pharmacy for organising the installation of the box."

A defibrillator is a device that gives a high energy electric shock to the heart through the chest wall to someone who is in a cardiac arrest.

The equipment is available to use 24 hours a day, and costs around £1,500 to install one defibrillator.

A code is also provided to open the cover after a caller has dialled 999.

A Welsh Hearts spokesperson said: “As a charity we are thrilled to have Gwyn’s support and thank him immensely for supporting the work of Welsh Hearts.

“There’s 8000 cardiac arrests that happen outside of a hospital each year in Wales and this is why we need defibrillators in communities across Wales.

“People like Gwyn are ensuring that lives can be saved and therefore his hard work and generosity - as well as those who have supported him - is invaluable.”

A free CPR and defibrillator training session has been planned to take place at Cross Hands Working Men's Club on January 12 2017 at 7pm and will be carried out by Welsh Hearts Charity.

"Let's make our community a safer place by getting all age groups trained in basic first aid," added Gwyn.