St John calls for more volunteers

Media Release
16 November 2006

St John calls for more volunteers

A cardiac arrest during a rugby game or an asthma attack at home, call St John - now they are calling you.

Currently just over 2,300 volunteer ambulance officers work alongside 812 paid St John ambulance officers, providing ambulance services to more than 85 per cent of the country’s population. St John is calling on more New Zealanders to join the organisation as volunteers.

St John Chief Operations Officer Keven Tate says the need for volunteers is growing as demand for St John ambulance services continues to grow.

Mr Tate says a growing and ageing population and increases in chronic health conditions such as diabetes and obesity mean demand for St John Ambulance service is continually growing.

“Our trained volunteers are a highly valued part of our service. Without volunteers, there would be no Ambulance service at all in some parts of the country.”

A combination of factors has seen ambulance demand grow at 6 per cent to 8 per cent a year consistently over the past 10 years.

Telecom has funded St John’s recent volunteer recruitment advertising campaign through their Community Connection sponsorship programme. Telecom Sponsorship Manager Kimberley Burcher says Telecom supports St John because of the important work they do for New Zealanders.

“St John provides a fantastic service to the communities of New Zealand. By helping fund their campaign for recruiting volunteers they can continue to concentrate on maintaining their much needed service.”

Mr Tate says there are a range of volunteer roles at St John, including ambulance officers and events volunteers. All receive training and support from St John and satisfaction from their activities.

To become a St John volunteer or to find out more, call 0800 ST JOHN (0800 785 646) or go to www.stjohn.org.nz.

The Telecom Community Connection Programme
Telecom's Community Connection programme is one of Telecom's biggest sponsorship initiatives and provides more than 1,000 charities with $5 million in support each year.
Regional organisations receive a sponsorship credit across their Telecom services, while some of New Zealand's largest and most respected charitable organisations receive additional support for specific sponsorship projects

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