Are you or your children interested in learning first aid?
By BelindaGuy | Saturday, March 13, 2010, 17:32
Address:
St John Ambulance Hedge End,
Birch Road, (Off of Lower Northam road, first turning before the Maypole nursing roundabout heading from the village.)
Hedge End has had a St John Ambulance division since the 1980's and has played a role since, members at our division feels that this is going un-noticed as we are losing numbers dramatically and we need your help!
Scouts, Guides, Brownies and Beavers are all common known clubs that yours or others children attend, but if I said Badgers and Cadets would you know what it was?
Badgers:
We currently only have 2 badgers at the moment aged between 5-10 so this is a dramatic decrease from the 15 we had last year. With such a little number we are finding it hard to do activities that require 5 or more people. In Hedge End we are looking to make our St John Ambulance unit once again a big help to society as our work is not appreciated by everyone. Many success' come from starting at a young age where your children can learn first aid skills so they know what to do during an emergency. But it isnt always first aid... there are a total of 15 badger badges that your child can collect of which go towards skills such as: cooking, entertainment and learning about your history. (For extra details please scroll to the bottom)
Cadets:
We currently have an average of 8 young attendants that range from 10-18, during this part of St John your child can collect a series of awards such as; Duke of Edinburgh, Ranks (Corporal, Sergant and Leading Cadet), Grand Prior and at the age of 16 can start their Amalfi. All of these awards are recognised by colleges, universities and buisness' all acros the UK. Our division uses its cadets to supply first aid to the local public, this is also a good opportunity to give your children a little bit of disciplin as everynight at the beginning and end of cadets we do a basic drill sequence. If you are interested please contact me via a message and I will pass on days.
I appreciate that after reading this you may have some queries so if I have not stated here please leave me a message and I will answer.
Our Sessions are run every Thursday except School holidays. Our badger session consists of one hour and includes:
Badge work, games, activities and first aid. This is run from 6pm-7pm
If you are interested in joining please come along with your child at the beginning of badgers to see what our sessions are like.
Cadets run every thursday except school holidays. Our sessions usually last an hour and a half and includes:
Drill, Proficiency Work, break and Drill. Although this may not sound appealing, it is and would have to come and see a session to choose for yourself.
Q&A:
Will this interfer with my childs school work or homework?
Not at all, as it is a time to relax and unwind for the evening and also very short pieces of work are handed out.
Is there a dress code?
When you are commited to doing Badgers or Cadets then yes there is a uniform however for first timers either school uniform for drill nights or smart sensible casual for other nights.
Comments
Ok, St John provides also the social element at our meetings, as we have not had adults for a while Im not sure what they carry out but Badgers and Cadets have things called Proficiencys. These proficiencys lead up to an overall achievement called Grand Prior of which I have attained. For example we do Food and Catering, Entertainment, Photography, Life skills, Planning a holiday, DofE, Camping....etc. I probably should be more clear and say that drill nights happen everynight for 10 minutes as a sign of respect to fellow officers and non-commisioned officers.
We do provide first aid care however due to our lack in numbers it has been passed over to the division in Bitterne, however when we get our numbers back up we will be able to do the duties again. 3 years ago we entered in the Carnival, we were promised this year and last year but were let down of which is why we need some more adults.
If there was a train crash, between Hedge End and Botley we would probably be called out if it was on our night, where as usually the call the First Responders and Ambulance Service...etc However Adults would probably be asked to help if they were near by. I hoped answered your questions please dont hesistate to ask.
By BelindaGuy at 07:31 on 27/04/10
ReportI associate St Johns Ambulance with providing first aid service at football matches, Hedge End Carnival, other local eventrs (e.g. fireworks, xmas lights) and being present with the other uniformed services in the Remembrance Day parade.
Is that right...?
What else do you do...?
There's got to be more to St Johns Ambulance than turning up to learn first Aid, practice on each other and do a spot of drill. Where's the purpose, what's it all for....?
For instance, Is there a connection with the Hampshire Coounty Council Emergency Planning Dept, i.e. would the local branch of St Johns Ambulance be called upon if there were some major emergency locally, such as a train crash between Hedge End and Botley....?
Tell us more Belinda....
By TGRWorzel at 19:41 on 18/03/10
Reporta local problem, however the organisation is not well known by people around the village or west end area and so we need members to help keep our division up and running for youngsters to learn first aid.
By BelindaGuy at 21:33 on 14/03/10
ReportAre the declining numbers a local problem or a national one...?
By TGRWorzel at 22:10 on 13/03/10
Report