News

St John Ambulance benefit from Albion As One donation

Charity protecting people, supporting communities and saving lives during the Covid-19 pandemic.

By Bruce Talbot • 13 June 2020

By St John Ambulance
St John Ambulance volunteers are involved in their biggest operation in peacetime.

Through the Albion as One fund our players and fans are able to support the work of St John Ambulance in protecting people, supporting communities and saving lives during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Since the start of the pandemic, St John Ambulance has supported the NHS and rallied to the aid of communities the length and breadth of the country in the charity’s biggest deployment during peacetime.

The charity has provided crews to eight ambulance trusts from its 31 hubs across England and sent highly trained volunteers to work in 43 hospitals.

In Sussex, St John volunteers are delivering compassion and care to patients by working in hospitals and providing emergency ambulance crews for ambulance trusts. Most recently, the charity began working with the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust, with volunteers providing patient care and support to clinical teams at two of the county’s hospitals – the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton and the Princess Royal Hospital, Haywards Heath.

Alongside this, the charity continues its much-needed homeless outreach service, providing first aid and primary healthcare to homeless and vulnerable housed people in Brighton and Hastings.

Donations to St John provide much needed support to the ongoing work of the health and first aid charity and could help to support key areas, such as training volunteers or deploying them to volunteer in the emergency departments.

Investment in training means the charity can increase the already large number of people able to assist in this pandemic and equip them with transferable skills to respond during times of crisis in the future.

From a volunteer

Mary, 22, Day job: MEng Ship Science Student. St John COVID role: Hospital Volunteer.

“Each patient had an information sheet telling us about them, their families and their lives. Little notes and messages from their families would be passed on, sometimes via phone, and then attached to their observation boards. This was all very emotional, and it did make me cry. 

“Everyone is calling me brave, but I really don’t think I am. I am privileged to have had the skills and the opportunity to help, and I am proud to have done so.”

About St John Ambulance

St John Ambulance is the nation’s leading health and first aid charity, stepping forward to save lives and support communities - keeping people safe and responding to health incidents and emergencies. St John has increased health resilience in communities across England for over 140 years. Now, more than ever, their vital work is important. Demand is high and St John has stepped up its efforts supporting the public, the health service and local authorities.