High Sheriff of West Sussex discovers the crucial role St John Ambulance played in the response to Covid-19

On Monday, July 13, I was invited to a lunch to celebrate the work the Sussex branch of St John Ambulance has carried out in the past year and particularly during the lockdown period.

As with every such event this summer, a physical gathering of this sort was not possible but I was one of more than 50 people to join on Zoom to hear how this remarkable charity has responded to the Covid-19 crisis.

In short, what I heard was inspiring, humbling and challenging.

St John Ambulance is a volunteer-led, charitable non-government organisation dedicated to the teaching and practice of first aid. It was founded in 1877, more than 70 years before the NHS came into existence, and its first task was to teach first aid in large railway centres and mining districts.

Now, it provides first aid training to around half-a-million people a year and, in normal times, its volunteers, with their up-to-date equipment and ambulances, attend almost all our major sporting fixtures.

St John has sustained a close and supportive relationship with the NHS; for example, it now provides transport services to over 100,000 NHS and private health care patients of all ages.

Understandably, the moment it became apparent that the coronavirus infection might overwhelm the NHS, the Government reached out to St John Ambulance to seek its help with the huge demand that was facing the nation and particularly London.

And, true to form, St John volunteers became a fundamental part of the country’s response to the pandemic, using their training and ambulances to help where and when the NHS needed them most.

Indeed, St John chief executive Martin Houghton-Brown said that St John has acted effectively as the ‘national reserve for health, with over 100,000 hours of activity since the beginning of April requiring St John to undertake its biggest mobilisation of volunteers since World War Two’.

In Sussex, the St John volunteers have delivered more than 8,700 hours of support to the hospitals in Haywards Heath and Brighton, volunteering in a role similar to that of a healthcare assistant in the A&E departments and wards. Some have also been volunteering as emergency ambulance crew in support of London Ambulance Service, with St John providing more than 15,000 hours since the start of the pandemic. Furthermore, they have given Covid-related training to furloughed cabin crew from British Airways and TUI so they could join St John Ambulance and also assist on the wards.

But, the way St John looks after its patients is just as important as what it does for them, and during the crisis its ethos of compassion and holistic care has defined its response.

In one moving case, a patient required admission to hospital suffering from an overwhelming Covid infection. Her family was unable to be with her but comfort came from a St John volunteer, who stayed by her side and, at her request, sang to her until the end.

St John has therefore become an essential partner in the NHS’s effort to manage the response to the virus, with the Sussex branch of volunteers and supporters at the forefront of the effort. Indeed, led by our county president, Caroline Lucas, Sussex has raised more than £100,000 in the past 12 months to purchase a new ambulance. And, quite rightly, on July 13, they were thanked on behalf of us all by Peter Field, the Lord Lieutenant of East Sussex.

However, as with all charities, the Covid lockdown has prevented St John from carrying out its key fundraising events. Currently, across the UK, its costs far outweigh its current income. The Government has provided some emergency financial aid but the work of this remarkable organisation will be hampered unless their funding streams are re-invigorated.

So, the message is simple: Sussex needs St John Ambulance and it needs our support.

For more information on St John Ambulance and how to donate, visit www.sja.org.uk/covid-19

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