Today we heard the news that one of our long-serving and dedicated volunteers Mr Gerallt Davies CStJ, MBE has sadly passed away.
Gerallt died today (20th April) after a short illness in hospital. This has come as a shock to us all.
Gerallt was a passionate, caring and kind individual who ensured volunteers always had an outlet to help others.
He joined us over 40 years ago as a Cadet and helped at local events in the South West Wales area where he eventually went on to lead Pontarddulais Division as Divisional Officer in Charge.
He remained there for nearly 20 years transforming the division not least by increasing its membership to 150 but by also securing lottery funding for a purpose built community hall.
Some of his greatest achievements within St John Ambulance Cymru included his role as Commissioner for West Glamorgan (2008-14) where he developed his expertise in operational event management.
In 2014, Gerallt was instrumental in the creation of our Swansea Help Point which, since its opening in 2015, has treated over 5,000 patients and is widely viewed as the ‘gold standard’ for this type of service.
So much so, the set up was most recently replicated at the Royal Welsh Show, where Gerallt headed up the operation.
In 2015 Gerallt become a member of the National Operations team and under his leadership St John become the leading provider of medical cover at events and his passion for the highest of clinical standards paved way for some of our most notable training and policy changes.
Gerallt oversaw our work at the Liberty Stadium and was instrumental in co-ordinating our response and first aid cover across UEFA Champions League in 2016.
He was one of the heroes of St John Ambulance Cymru and the Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust. He will never be forgotten.
Our heartfelt condolences are extended to Gerallt’s family, close friends and fellow volunteers during this truly difficult time.