ST John Ambulance launched its annual awareness month - Save a Life September (SALS) – and gave CPR demonstrations to the crowd during this year’s Haslemere Food Festival on Saturday.

The Haslemere crew is one of the first-aid charity’s volunteer groups holding a series of free SALS events, all over the South East, demonstrating simple techniques that could help people be the difference between a life lost and a life saved.

Now in its fifth year, Save a Life September teaches thousands of people life saving skills for free, through first aid demonstrations, distributing 100,000 free first-aid guides so everyone can remember the key five ways to save a life, and online videos.

Beth Elger, St John’s schools and community projects manager, said: “First aid is for everyone and it’s easy and fun to learn.

“We believe that everyone should have first aid knowledge – and the more people that take part in Save a Life September, the higher the chance that someone will be on hand to help when it’s needed most.”

For more information on St John Ambulance’s work, including how to become a volunteer and details of training for the public, schools and businesses, visit sja.org.uk or call 0303 003 0101.