The St John Ambulance Guernsey charity is appealing to the Guernsey public and local businesses to help support a major fundraising campaign.

The charity was about the launch a massive fundraising project to support our work in the community, just as the current Covid-19 lockdown was announced.

We are looking to raise more than £100,000 to continue to improve the lives of islanders through provision of Event First Aid, Community First Responders, the Flying Christine III marine ambulance, Badgers & Cadets, Community Library, Cycle Response Unit, the Volunteer Ambulance Reserves and Covid-19 Response.

All of the charity’s community services rely on charitable donations, corporate partnership, bequests and fundraising. Small charges are made for some services such as Event First Aid.

https://giving.gg/donate/charity/54/St-John-Guernsey-LBG

The St John charity had been hoping to hold a series of fundraising events throughout 2021, with the first big community event planned for April, however in the light of the current lockdown the fundraising events remain under constant review.

Nikki Harrison, Chief Executive Officer said: “As soon as we were made aware of the new lockdown our focus immediately turned towards supporting the community and adapting our services to meet the urgent needs of islanders. We’ve stopped some of our regular activities, such as Badger, Cadets and the Community Library, and have concentrated on the essential food deliveries service, the Caring Caller scheme, prescription deliveries, vaccination centre transport and our volunteer decontamination team. All of that means we’ve had to pause the planned launch of our fundraising campaign. Ironically, this is when we need funds the most, so we want to appeal directly to the public and local businesses to help us, help others.”

We have created a wish list of essential equipment and projects which require urgent funding. The wish list will be sent to local businesses in the coming months and will be available to the public shortly. Items on the wish list include:

  • sponsorship of a volunteer Community First Responder to cover the cost of training and life-saving equipment,
  • a Zoll AED which can be used to deliver a life-saving shock to a patient in cardiac arrest,
  • a training manikin for volunteers to practise their first aid skills,
  • replacement equipment for event ambulances,
  • a defibrillator simulator for training volunteers in life-saving skills,
  • sponsorship of the Badger and Cadets youth programme,
  • new uniform for volunteers.

Chief Executive Officer Nikki Harrison added: “I don’t think people realise how much St John Ambulance Guernsey provides for the island, nor how much it costs to run each year. Many public events could not happen without our volunteers being on duty. The charity doesn’t receive any funding from the States for the community services and we rely on the generosity of businesses which sponsor our activities and individual islanders who fundraise and make donations. Like many charities our fundraising efforts were hit by the coronavirus pandemic last year and this was at a time when St John was providing extra services in response to the changing needs of our community. We can’t carry on providing our existing services or develop new ones if the funding is not in place.”

In 2020 and again in 2021 St John Ambulance Guernsey is at the forefront of islands response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The charity has been co-ordinating the island-wide volunteer effort, delivering essential groceries, prescription medication and healthcare products to isolating islanders, launching the Caring Caller line for people who were feeling lonely and the providing volunteers for the ambulance decontamination team which supported the Emergency Ambulance Service.

Although the planned fundraising events are on hold, we hope we will be able to release details of the charity prize draw and other activities in the near future.

If you are interested in supporting St John Ambulance Guernsey you can get in touch by emailing fundraising@stjohn.gg or by calling 01481 727129

You can donate directly here:

https://giving.gg/donate/charity/54/St-John-Guernsey-LBG

 

Posted: February 3, 2021