First aid charity wants younger members

Tuesday 31 December 2019

Jersey's oldest first aid provider is hoping to see more youngsters join its ranks in 2020, as it looks to not only train more young first aiders but also "produce good citizens".

Islanders as young as six can join St. John Ambulance's Badgers weekly meetings.

After a busy year, which saw three volunteers save a man's life at a local event and funding difficulties, CEO Barry Marsden has shared a few words on what the charity hopes to achieve in 2020...

"We are first and foremost a charity and 2019 has been another busy and successful year for our active unpaid volunteers and small paid administration staff. 

St. John Ambulance volunteers attended most outdoor public events - 135 this year - and treated 306 people for minor injuries, only 32 of which had to go to hospital for further treatment.

Pictured: St. John Ambulance volunteers attended 135 events this year, including Gorey Fete.

Since their introduction to Jersey we know AED’s provided by our charity have saved saved lives and this year a young man’s life was saved by three of our unpaid volunteers performing CPR and using an AED clearly demonstrating why we are required at public events.

We provide education, training and personal development opportunities for young people, in schools and also through our own youth groups. As a result of a kind funding agreement with The Frank & Phillis Scotto Trust Fund this year we have issued over 500 first aid certificates to children in the schools and delivered over 1,000 sessions of first aid-related sessions.

850 students attended our session on 'Prison Me, No Way' and 1,100 students attended our sessions at the Child Accident Prevention week. Our eleven Badger, Cadet and Transition youth groups continue to be popular with over 150 children regularly attending, although we have a big wish for these groups for next year. 

Pictured: The charity delivered over 1,000 sessions of first aid-related sessions this year.

Due to a kind funding agreement with the One Foundation, we have an active adult carers support programme where candidates attending the course receive knowledge and practical advice. The courses have been a huge success and the feedback has been very positive.

The courses are a mixture of theory and practical activities and an outcome of the project is to give the recipients essential skills to avoid becoming ill themselves.

In 2019, the Careers Support Group has grown from strength to strength. Each month between 10 and 12 members regularly attended St. Martin Hall where a mixture of social activities and outside speakers are arranged. This activity is the only opportunity these carers have to communicate and mix with people in similar circumstances and is invaluable to their social well being.

Pictured: Islanders can join St. John Ambulance from the age of six.

The island’s children are our future and are at the heart of our charity. Children can join our Badger sets at the age of six and attend weekly early evening meetings, which are a combination of fun and education with elementary first aid.

At the age of 10, they move on to  Cadet units, where there is a greater emphasis on first aid. Our aim is not just to produce first aiders, but to produce good citizens.

It is very pleasing to see how our children learn to work together and build up their confidence as they progress from badger to cadet.

There continues to be demand for all our youth groups and we have some really great dedicated adult volunteers but we need more and our wish for 2020 and future years is to have more adult leaders to enable us to give the youth groups greater resilience and strength."