St John charity launching major fundraising campaign

THE charitable arm of St John Ambulance Guernsey is appealing to the community to support a major fundraising campaign.

The charitable arm of St John Ambulance Guernsey is hoping to raise more than £100,000 through a new fund raising campaign. Pictured, left to right, are volunteers, Amanda Hibbs, Darryl Bye, Janet Unitt, Phil Ozanne, Tom Burnett, and Josh Bonsall. (29208802)

It hopes to raise more than £100,000 to continue to improve provision of event first aid, community first responders, the marine ambulance Flying Christine III, Badgers & Cadets, community library, cycle response unit, the volunteer ambulance reserves and Covid-19 response.

All of the charity’s community services rely on charitable donations, corporate partnership, bequests and fundraising. Small charges are made for some services such as event first aid.

The St John charity had been hoping to hold a series of fundraising events throughout 2021, with the first big community event planned for April, but in the light of the current lockdown these remain under frequent review.

‘As soon as we were made aware of the new lockdown our focus immediately turned towards supporting the community and adapting our services to meet the urgent needs of islanders,’ said St John Ambulance chief executive officer Nikki Harrison.

‘We’ve stopped some of our regular activities and have concentrated on the essential deliveries service, Caring Caller, prescription deliveries, vaccination centre transport and decontamination team. All of that means we’ve had to pause the planned launch of our fundraising campaign. Ironically, this is when we need funds the most, so we want to appeal directly to the public and local businesses to help us, help others.’

St John has also created a wish list of essential equipment and projects which require urgent funding. This will be sent to local businesses in the coming months and will be available to the public shortly.

Items include; sponsorship of a volunteer Community First Responder to cover the cost of training and life-saving equipment; a Zoll AED which can be used to deliver a life-saving shock to a patient in cardiac arrest; a training manikin for volunteers to practise their first aid skills; replacement equipment for event ambulances; a defibrillator simulator for training volunteers in life-saving skills; sponsorship of the Badger and Cadets youth programme; new uniform for volunteers.

Mrs Harrison said she did not think people realised how much St John Ambulance Guernsey provided for the island or how much it cost to run each year. It receives no funding from the States.

‘Like many charities our fundraising efforts were hit by the coronavirus pandemic last year and this was at a time when St John was providing extra services in response to the changing needs of our community,’ she said.

‘We can’t carry on providing our existing services or develop new ones if the funding is not in place.’

St John Ambulance Guernsey was at the forefront of the island’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, she said.

n Anyone interesting in supporting St John Ambulance Guernsey can do so by emailing fundraising@stjohn.gg or calling 01481 727129 or donating directly to St John Guernsey at giving.gg.