COMEDIAN Rufus Hound is helping St John Ambulance launch its annual awareness month, Save a Life September, with the release of a funny new video.

Throughout September, volunteers from the nation’s leading first aid charity are holding a series of free SALS events demonstrating simple techniques that could help people be the difference between a life lost and a life saved.

Chippenham’s St John Ambulance first aiders will be at the town’s River Island Park on September 19.

In the video, the Mr Hound plays a hapless teacher, whose lack of first aid skills leads to disastrous consequences.

He said: "St John Ambulance is a tremendous organisation and working with them has been super fun. I’m delighted to be supporting Save a Life September. Although the campaign video is funny, the message behind it is serious: it’s never too late to learn how to save a life.

"Everyone should visit the St John Ambulance website, find their nearest free first aid demo and learn the skills that could one day rescue someone close to them."

Now in its fifth year, Save a Life September teaches thousands of people life saving skills for free, through first aid demonstrations, first aid guides and online first aid videos.

The charity’s regional director for the South West, Steve Hargreaves, 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."

To find out more on Save A Life September or to watch the video, visit www.sja.org.uk/savealifeseptember