Island Memories project celebrates 90 years of Ambulance and Rescue
19 December 2025
Guernsey’s Ambulance Service, in partnership with Guernsey Museums, is inviting former members of the St John Ambulance and Rescue Service to share their stories and experiences as part of a special project celebrating the Service’s 90th anniversary.
It follows the highly successful launch of The Island Memories Project, pioneered last year by Guernsey Museum in partnership with BBC Radio Guernsey.
The Island Memories Project aims to record islanders’ accounts of their past and that of the island. These recordings become part of a permanent digital archive so that future generations can listen to and learn from the people of the Bailiwick that came before them.
In The Island Memories Project : Ambulance and Rescue Service 90th Anniversary, the aim is to record as many former and current staff, volunteers, associates, and grateful recipients of the Service, preserving their memories and experiences for years to come. This phase of the project launches this week and anyone associated with the Ambulance Service is encouraged to get in touch and take part.
Kit Hughes, Assistant Curator, Guernsey Museums – “Guernsey Museum has been blown away by the public engagement and support for The Island Memories Project and we’d like to say a huge thank you to all who have taken part so far. This project is a fantastic legacy for islanders to leave for future generations and will ensure their experiences and achievements are not forgotten.
As we move into the second year of the project, we are delighted to partner with Guernsey’s Ambulance Service to commemorate their 90th Anniversary by recording and preserving their story through the people that lived it. They are a pillar of local life that fully deserves recognition for all they do for the Bailiwick and we look forward to working with them in 2026.”
Dean de la Mare, Head of Operations at the Ambulance and Rescue Service said: “We’re excited to be working in partnership with Guernsey Museum to celebrate our 90th anniversary next year. From its early beginning in 1936, through the Occupation years and then into the development of the road ambulance, marine ambulance and rescue services, Ambulance and Rescue has expanded and evolved over the years, in response to the changing needs of the island. We are really keen to hear from people with memories of those early years, people who may have stories of cliff rescues, the diving team or the recompression chamber. St John also pioneered mobile telecommunications in ambulance and radar for sea rescues. We also had the world’s first marine ambulance.
“We have already reached out to some of our retired staff through the St John Fellowship, however we know there are lots of other people who have worked or volunteered for the service over the years – and we’d like to capture their memories too.”
St John took over the running of the ambulance service in 1936, with the first ambulance responding from the Rohais at 5pm on 2nd June 1936.
Guernsey Museums will also be hosting a photography exhibition in Candie Gardens next year to mark the anniversary.
If you would like to participate or know of someone who could contribute to this project, please contact – Guernsey Museum – tel. 226518 or email christopher.hughes@gov.gg
Or Jim Carthcart at St John Ambulance and Rescue Service – email jim.cathcart@stjohn.gg
