[V]olunteers at St John Ambulance in Ambleside had a special visitor recently. HRH the Duke of Gloucester, Grand Prior of the Order of St John, joined the volunteer first aiders as they celebrated the re-opening of their newly refurbished building on Stock Ghyll Road. The Duke was accompanied by the Lord Lieutenant, Mrs Claire Hensman, and was introduced to volunteers and staff from the first aid charity.
Natalie Miller, District Manager at St John Ambulance said: “We were delighted that the Duke could make the time to visit our building in Ambleside.
“Thanks to a local legacy and local fundraising we have done some amazing work on the building which now has fantastic training and meeting facilities and a garage that can house a variety of vehicles.
“Our Unit Manager, Philip Thompson, has been the driving force behind local fundraising and engagement for this project and the visit from the Duke made it an even more special occasion.”
The charity is now looking for more volunteer life savers and has a number of volunteer opportunities available. Those looking to volunteer as first aiders should visit www.sja.org.uk and search vacancies, the closing date for these vacancies is 21 August.
Natalie continued; “We’re looking for volunteers in the community to train with us as first aiders and those roles offer great potential for development. With training our first aiders cover events like the Rushbearing Festival, Keswick 2 Barrow walk, fell running and other community events. There are also often opportunities to travel further afield to large events such as Kendal Calling, the Great North Run, Notting Hill Carnival and even the London Marathon.
“We have a number of other exciting roles available too. We are looking for Youth Leaders and Youth Helpers to start a new Youth Unit and there are other opportunities including Fundraising. Anyone interested in any of these other roles can come along and meet us at our Open Evening on 23 August at 6.30pm.”
The building in Ambleside will also now be offering a number of training courses for the workplace including First Aid at Work and Fire Marshal training. Details can be found at www.sja.org.uk/training.
