“We have celebrated our 900th birthday and still have a presence in Jerusalem”.

These facts immediately captured the attention of members, as indeed did the whole of an interesting and informative talk by Anthony Waters of the St John Ambulance Association. The organisation originated at the time of the Crusades when the Blessed Gerard founded a centre where wounded crusaders could be treated following the many battles which occurred in their attempts to secure the Holy Land for the Christians. Over the hundreds of years since then it has had its ups and downs but gradually evolved into one caring for workers at the time of the Industrial Revolution and then to the one everyone knows today, with their reassuring presence at most public events.

There is however a lot more to St John’s than providing first aiders. For example, it has a patient transfer service, an urgent transport vehicle and in Newquay a ‘Street Safe’ project. It has fully equipped ambulances and gives training to high levels of competence.

All this activity has to be paid for. Funding mainly comes from donations, legacies, professional payments, and the street collections. Although St John’s members are volunteers, the costs of running such an organisation are considerable and charges have to be made for their services. And there is, of course, their presence in Jerusalem, which is an eye hospital. Anthony was thanked for giving his time to come and talk.

In response to a question he rounded off his visit by demonstrating the latest resuscitation techniques on ‘Little Annie’.

President Dianna Couch congratulated members on the success of the Devoran Group meeting. The buffet had been excellent and the singing by the committee had gone down very well. She reminded everyone that the Knit and Stitch group would continue over the summer. Ideas for a proposed trip to Dartmoor were put forward and Barbara Roberts gave details of the next WI Group walk. Heather Withers described her visit to the National AGM at Cardiff.

The next meeting is on Tuesday, July 13 when Eileen Beall will be talking about The National Trust. Visitors are welcome to attend. For further information telephone 01872 863560.