Stretcher dash for ambulance

A SPONSORED stretcher dash around the island by St John Ambulance Alderney volunteers has helped raise close to £4,000 for new equipment.

A team of seven pushed a wheeled stretcher eight miles around Alderney on Easter Sunday, in groups of three and four, and took just two hours and three minutes to complete the hilly course.

Following the procession was an ambulance with emergency crew, encouraging passers-by to donate to the worthy cause.

At the Bluestone Hill section of the course, the ambulance was called out to attend an emergency – and with the service receiving an average two call-outs per day, it wasn't altogether unexpected.

The aim of the dash was to raise £11,500 towards a new electric stretcher for the service's second ambulance.

As well as sponsorship, businesses and individuals pledged donations of hundreds of pounds to bring the total tally of the weekend's fundraising drive to an incredible £3,912.16.

'It was hard, but we're proud we managed to do it,' said volunteer Martin Smith. 'And everyone's support and generosity was a big part of the motivation to get round.'

The electric stretcher will bring the service's second ambulance up to date. It makes light work of moving patients on and off the ambulance and onto planes, whatever the patient's size.

The dilemma continues over what to do about the hole in Alderney's historic Connaught Square.

The problem is that no one really knows what the two artificial caverns, exposed when cobbles dropped from the surface, are really for.

After four months of investigations, engineers finally decided on pumping gravel into all corners of the Victorian brick chambers to shore up supporting walls.

But a retired drains specialist has come forward to say that one of the chambers was actually built as an overflow space for a culvert –

and filling it could mean nearby properties become flooded.

So it could be back to the drawing board once again for ideas about what to do with the hole.