“Building a spiritual home for ourselves and future generations, where all can find fulfilment and meaning through a shared devotion to helping others. As members of St John we seek to ensure that everyone feels part of one community, devoted to our mission while providing support to each other and to future generations.”
Volunteers are the heart of St John. With over 200,000 volunteers worldwide, we are deeply rooted in local communities and reflect their population. Many of our volunteers spend decades with us – including our Lord Prior who joined St John as a cadet in 1974 at Glebe Cadet Division, Sydney, and our Grand Prior HRH the Duke of Gloucester who recently received an award for fifty years’ service to the Order.
The devotion of our volunteers is the foundation on which we build all our work. Volunteers from opposite sides of the world with experience at both ends of the age spectrum illustrate why we value them, and how devotion to our mission plays out in the contribution of thousands of people every day.
James Cordell, St John Cymru (one of the youngest people admitted to the Order)
I joined St John as a student in Aberystwyth. Until that point, although I’d heard of St John, I never really knew much about the organisation. But I soon learned that St John is an organisation that does so much good work in the community. I’m now a county support manager, looking after and recruiting volunteers to make sure they remain engaged and happy, as I have. I’m also involved in fundraising and marketing – talking about what we do in West Wales where I’m based. I do something for St John nearly every day and have learned a huge amount in my four years . Being so closely linked to our community is what makes us special – local people are working for the benefit of local people – St John is cool and special in that way.
My job is in the health sector, but there are lots of people from all walks of life in St John and I love the diversity of people I meet. When I heard that I was being made a member of the Order at 24, I was shocked, not least as I knew that the late Queen has sanctioned my nomination. But being recognised in this way is not just a huge honour for me, and a spur to keep contributing, it’s also encouraging for other young people to know that our contributions are valued and our service rewarded.
Val Dempsey, Senior Australian of the Year 2022
As a St John volunteer of over 50 years, I have grown up with the organisation, and seen first-hand the exemplary work our volunteers do every day. My journey started when I was just a girl – seeing a neighbour heading off in her St John uniform with a purpose of ‘going to help people’. It sparked a desire to become a Cadet in my primary school years. Today in Australia, our Cadet Youth are still a bright beacon for the future of our many services. St John has been a significant part of my life and provided me with opportunities to learn, grow and serve my community. More recently, our work during the COVID Pandemic response and the Black Summer Bushfires of 2020, has been both challenging and rewarding.
I am very proud to be continuing my work as an active Volunteer for St John Ambulance ACT.
I am perhaps most proud of the work I have achieved to progress the national dialogue about the importance of First Aid training for drivers on our roads. Sadly, through family experience, I know of the tragic loss of life that can occur in road accidents, and how important first aid intervention can be in the vital minutes as bystanders wait for an ambulance to arrive, to help those injured.
Together with St John Ambulance Australia, I have been using my experience and public platform to advocate for Australian states and territories to make First Aid Training a mandatory prerequisite to gaining a driver’s license. This will have a lifesaving impact, particularly for our young people.
We have had some great success in launching a new, free eLearning application: www.driverfirstaid.org.au and slowly, we are gaining the interest of the people who can influence a positive change through policies and practice. In this way, I am excited about the future and my legacy with St John.
You can read more about how we as #OneStJohn lived our values in our everyday work in 2022 by reading our new Annual Report.
