Buildings lit green later to honour St John Ambulance on St John's Day
Yeovil’s St John's church and the council building at Bristol’s College Green are being lit green tonight in recognition of the St John Ambulance and its volunteers.
Last updated 24th Jun 2021
It’s because today is St. John’s day and in Bristol there’ll also be ambulances and volunteers gathering to mark the day - with Bridport Town Hall also being lit green as well.
This week we’ve been meeting the vaccinators and telling the stories of those behind the jabs. St John helps do lots of the training for the vaccinators.
A spokesperson for the service said: "During the pandemic, St John volunteers have been stepping forward to save lives.
"They have already given hundreds of thousands of hours of their time, supporting the NHS in caring for patients on board ambulances, in hospitals and as part of vital community projects such as blood donations and this year’s seasonal flu vaccinations.
"Now as a lead partner for the NHS vaccination programme we are training thousands of volunteers to administer the Covid-19 vaccine across the country.
"Every day, our emergency ambulance crews offer a response to less critically ill patients, freeing up NHS capacity for priority cases. We also speed up the flow of patients with our ambulance transfer service, transporting patients home after hospital stays.
We support the public and local authorities at events, during extreme weather conditions, following major incidents and in national emergencies."
Selina Taylor spoke to reporter Andrew Kay
Earlier this month they unveiled a brand new campaign called 'Ask Me' which was designed to make the public stop and think about all of the vital roles St John plays in people’s everyday lives'.
For more details click here
St John Ambulance’s chief executive, Martin Houghton-Brown said: “We have long played a vital role in supporting the health of the nation – through world wars to a global pandemic.
“Despite thousands of people interacting with St John, millions don’t completely understand all that we do; many don’t even know that we have ten thousand young people as a vital part of our charity’s work, for example.
“We are well known for our presence at events but, even then, the fact that we are volunteers is often missed. There are so many ways in which St John serves communities, from training and education to homeless outreach services meeting the needs of the most vulnerable.
“The last year has seen our profile raised through our Covid-19 response supporting the NHS but, as the world starts to return to normal, we need to remind everyone why St John matters every day, not just in a national crisis.
“It’s time to tell the world what we do, and who better to tell the world than our own incredible St John people, saying, Ask me.”
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