On Friday (24 September) we welcomed Wrexham MP, Sarah Atherton, to our Wrexham training centre.
Our St John people shared personal stories with Ms Atherton and more about the impact we've been making in the area and across Wales during one of the country’s biggest challenges, the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jessica Rogers (24) has volunteered throughout the pandemic giving her time to her local vaccination centre. Jessica spoke to Ms Atherton about her experience caring for hundreds of people through her work supporting the vaccination roll out.
National Cadet of the Year, Joshua Taylor (18), from Deeside, spoke about his ambitions to drive forward the voice of children and young people through the charity’s Badger and Cadet programmes. Joshua has also given his time to care for people in his community at vaccination centres.
Ms Atherton was taken on a tour of our centre and saw some of the vehicles we've been using to transport patients to and from hospital and was given a CPR demonstration, highlighting the lifesaving first aid training we've been delivering throughout Wales as part of Save a Life September.
Those in attendance included:
Sarah Atherton MP, Wrexham
Chief Executive Officer, Helen Smith
Prior for Wales, Sir Paul Williams
Chief Operating Officer, Benjamin Savage
Vaccination Care Volunteer, Jessica Rogers
North Wales County Commissioner, Craig Jones
National Cadet of the Year, Joshua Taylor
“With a background in nursing, it was really enjoyable to learn more about the work of St John Ambulance Cymru and to be able to refresh my own skills at the same time!
Hearing more about the great work that has been done over the past year, which has been particularly tough, was also incredibly uplifting. Most importantly, I was pleased to be able to thank and celebrate the volunteers too – they have all done an outstanding job, despite such adversity.”
Sarah Atherton MP for Wrexham
“We were delighted to welcome Sarah and share the amazing achievements of our St John people during one of the most challenging situations we’ve faced in over a century of serving Welsh communities.
Our mission is to enhance the health and wellbeing of communities in Wales, and the determination, passion and resilience of our volunteers as well as our behind-the-scenes teams, has been outstanding. It was fantastic to share our story and our impact with Sarah today.”
St John Ambulance Cymru, Chief Executive Officer, Helen Smith
Across the pandemic, we've provided vital support in local communities through our pharmacy delivery programme, which ran through the first wave of the pandemic, as well as caring for patients at Wales’ field hospitals.
Our patient transport service was upskilled and adapted to enhance our frontline activity supporting the Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust, freeing up vital ambulances for emergency calls.
We're expected to continue delivering care at vaccination centres in North Wales until spring 2022 and we'll continue supporting communities wherever and whenever we're needed.