The St John Ambulance Association of Barbados is making a plea for younger members and those with accounting skills to join the 75-year-old volunteer organisation.
The plea has come from its chairman, Commander David Dowridge, as he spoke at a service on Sunday at Emmanuel Baptist Church in celebration of the association’s 75th anniversary.
He noted that St John was an ageing association since many of its members had been with it from its inception or shortly thereafter.
And he said it was “highly unlikely, given the scheme of things” that they would be there 40 or 50 years in the future.
“So it is important that we inject into St John Barbados new blood. And therefore I am making an appeal to young, spirited Barbadians who want to make a contribution to the development of this country, through the services that we offer, to join us as we build the future for St John,” he told the congregation that included retired High Court Judge Christopher Blackman.
He praised the members of the association for their first-class job of providing first aid training and instructions.
However, he said St John’s ambition was to have a first aider “on every street”.
“We want to have a first aider in every community. We want to have first aiders here at church. The idea is that we must have, wherever we are in Barbados, a volunteer, whether it be an accident, a bit of violence – domestic or otherwise – whether it be a natural disaster; first aiders must be present,” Dowridge said.
He also urged those with accounting and financial skills to volunteer so that the association could ensure it was “consistent with national laws”.
“We are pleading for those in St John and those who are willing to join to come forward and be volunteers. We want people to join St John and contribute to St John by not asking, ‘What is in it for me?’ but ‘What can I bring to this organisation?’.” (HLE)
