On the night of 16th/17th January 1974 the Cypriot vessel which was carrying a cargo of timber lost power during a storm and struck the Conchee Reef near Perelle. The vessel was holed below the waterline and the crew abandoned ship, tragically their lifeboat was overwhelmed and all eighteen crewmen died.
Neil Tucker, who had only joined the ambulance service a few months earlier, recalls hearing the radio messages in the control room. “I was on my first evening shift and I remember hearing the voices of crew say they were going to abandon ship. They said they were going around and around and didn’t know where they were. It wasn’t nice to listen to.”
On the morning of 17th January the Chief Ambulance Officer Reg Blanchford asked for two volunteers to be winched onto the wreck by helicopter to carry out a search and take photos for the investigation. Keith Fothergill and John Marshall who were part of the dive team stepped forward.
“We went straight to airport and were picked up by helicopter then we were lowered onto the deck. At the time it was a job just like any other emergency. The sea was still very rough and every time a wave came in the whole boat shuddered,” said Mr Fothergill.
Mr Marshall added “The weather was horrendous but we had trained for this type of incident. I remember having to climb over timbers and the front of the wheel house was smashed in. We found the cabin clock which was full of sea water and had stopped at quarter past one.”
The pair were also among the crew of the Ambulance and Rescue Inshore Rescue Boat, with Mick Peters and Colin Bartie, which was sent to the scene the following day.
Ken Brehaut was in the first ambulance tasked with retrieving the bodies from the coastline. “The weather conditions had been horrendous and the sound of the wind was awful,” he said. “After we retrieved the first body my job was to supervise the temporary mortuary which had been set up by the authorities and handover the bodies to the police.”
To mark the anniversary representatives from Guernsey’s Ambulance and Rescue Service and the St John charity attended a memorial ceremony at the Prosperity monument at the L’Eree headland. The event which is organised by the Guernsey Association of Royal Navy, Royal Marines & Merchant Navy is due to be attended by the family of one of the crewmen from the Prosperity. The service was conducted by Dean of Guernsey Tim Barker and the St John chaplain Adrian Datta.
During the moment of reflection when the crew of the Prosperity were remembered the congregation stood silently in the cold wintery shower and all that could be heard was the wind and the sound of the sea in the background.
Posted: January 16, 2024
Immediately after the public announcement in January about the forthcoming closure of the shop, the board of directors and leadership team have worked non-stop with numerous private, public and third sector organisations to explore future options with the best community solution for Guernsey. Some of those potential business arrangements were subject to Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs), and therefore there was a limit in what could be disclosed.
Mrs Langlois said: “Over the past few weeks we have had various discussions with interested parties, some of whom shared our community-service mindset more than others, but we welcomed constructively all enquiries and worked through them whilst respecting legal and customer data protection requirements. Guardian Medical Guernsey Ltd is owned by a family run, community focused business which shares our values, which I believe makes this the best outcome for the Island.”
Guardian Medical Ltd have an established operation in Jersey for over 25 years, and had been planning to expand into Guernsey, which they have now accelerated in a co-operative manner with St John.
Martin Fitzgerald, speaking on behalf of both Guardian Medical Jersey Limited and Guardian Medical Guernsey Limited, said: “We are delighted that we have been able to align our entry into Guernsey with St John’s handover of its retail product supply operation. We believe that the degree of continuity of staffing will be welcomed by customers, providing excellent service and reassurance from familiar surroundings and with easy access for all. In addition, our scale and service culture will help to maintain a useful competitive environment within the Guernsey market for essential mobility equipment and a wide range of quality healthcare products. In due course, our new location will also overcome the growing constraints of running a successful retail operation in the middle of an increasingly busy emergency ambulance station.”
The Health Care Shop team is now working on replenishing all stock levels and the shop on the Rohais will be operating business as usual in preparation for the transition of the business to Guardian Medical Guernsey Ltd.
The shop will remain open for business until a closing date is announcedSt John is now focusing on supporting the Healthcare shop staff and customers affected by the announcement.
The Healthcare Shop and St John Training Services are a separate entity to the St John Ambulance Guernsey charity and the St John Ambulance & Rescue Service, so the activities of the charity and the operations of the Emergency Ambulance Service will be unaffected by the closure of the Healthcare Shop. St John Training Services will continue to operate, delivering first aid training to local businesses and the community.
Historically, the Healthcare Shop has existed to supply on-island consumers and businesses with healthcare products, with any net cash generated being donated to support the wider charitable endeavours of St John charities in Guernsey.
The Healthcare Shop has been managed with oversight by the St John Commercial Services Ltd. board of directors. The board has considered a range of strategic options to ensure the ongoing viability of the company, but despite the best efforts of committed managers and their team, this has not proved feasible at acceptable levels of risk.
Chairman of the board of St John Commercial Services, Ben Le Huray, explained: “It is with sadness and regret that we have had to make this very difficult decision. This has been a terrible, soul-searching process for all involved. We have explored numerous options to maintain the Healthcare Shop in its current form, but unfortunately we could not arrive at a sustainable solution. Numerous factors have compounded the scale of the Healthcare Shop’s challenges, including Covid and post-Brexit related trading interruptions, a worsening general retail environment as Europe enters a recessionary era, the cost of living crisis, as experienced by other retailers and service sectors, topped off by a devastating flood in the shop earlier this year.
“Our thoughts are with the Healthcare staff who are a truly dedicated and hardworking team. We will be providing them with ongoing support at this uncertain and difficult time. We are also working through the implications for customers and suppliers in as constructive and supportive a manner as possible, in order to minimise the impact of this decision.”
John Hollis, Knight Commander and chairman of the Commandery of St John in Guernsey said: “This is a terribly sad but unavoidable decision which the SJCS board concluded they had to take, at a horrible time for all affected, especially after all the efforts by many to pursue alternative ways forward. However, in the current very difficult economic and funding environment, they appeared to have been faced with the same inescapable logic as many other small-scale organisations.”
Mr Hollis also provided confirmation that the difficult decisions taken by the board of St John Commercial Services about the Healthcare Shop would have no impact on the operations of the separately constituted St John Ambulance and Rescue Service (SJARS) and the provision of emergency ambulance services to the community.
“The emergency ambulance service is an entirely separate entity, with its own board of directors, segregated funding and staffing arrangements. Due to the caring, professional diligence of a superb frontline team, SJARS has continued to perform in Guernsey with good response times and a high standard of care for islanders at their time of greatest need.
Mr Hollis concluded that, “We are living in very difficult economic and social times, perhaps the worst for at least a generation. Like other organisations, a St John board of directors may therefore sometimes be forced to take decisions with very difficult implications. St John personnel invariably try to do their utmost to provide services to the community that can be funded, in line with their “Caring for Life” ethos. The St John entities therefore welcome all those in our community who can assist in an appropriate professional, voluntary or charitable funding basis.”
The team, based at the Rohais, held a two day cake sale last Thursday and Friday and produced a fantastic spread of cakes and buns.
Sue Ahearne, Sue Girard, Wendy Le Tissier and Shiralee Le Page worked incredibly hard to pull this off with extra baking needed late on Thursday night.
Commercial manager Gina Gooding said: “Macmillan Cancer Support is close to many peoples hearts and I’m proud of the team for working hard to bake as many cakes as possible. Our next cake sale which is planned for December will be raising money for Les Bourgs Hospice.”
We are delighted to announce that St John Healthcare has won the 2022 Stannah ‘Growth Booster Award’.
The Guernsey based team was recognised for outstanding growth which was powered by a huge change in infrastructure, customer service and marketing across the Channel Islands.
The award, which was open to Stannah dealers from across the UK and Ireland was presented at the recent annual Stannah UK dealer conference, which meant St John Healthcare was up against some very well-established and larger companies.
St John Healthcare forms part of the commercial arm of the St John Ambulance Guernsey charity and profits support the charitable work of St John in the community, including first aid provision, Community First Responders, youth work, Caring Callers and the community library.
St John Healthcare is a Premier Partner for Stannah and has seen growth of around 60% year on year for Stannah units installed across the Channel Islands.
Commerical Manager Gina Gooding said: “We are absolutely delighted to be recognised as Stannah Stairlift’s top ‘Growth Booster’ premier partner in the UK and Ireland. We have seen our team at St John Healthcare double in the last year, which is no easy feat given the previous and current economic climate.
“We have invested in changing the infrastructure of our operations while focusing on improving the customer journey with additional administration staff, engineers and sub-contractors.
“Being able to help more islanders stay in the home they love for longer while promoting independent living is our mission. I am so very proud of our team for working hard to help reach even more islanders who struggle with accessibility in their own home.”
St John Healthcare provides a range of total home solutions, including advice and equipment to enable people to stay in the homes they love for longer, removing barriers to everyday challenges and helping make homes safer. The Healthcare shop which is located at the ambulance station at the Rohais and offers parking right outside the door, stocks a range of mobility, accessibility, first aid and other healthcare products. The shop is also online at stjohnshop.gg.
