The St John Ambulance Guernsey charity appeal has received a significant boost thanks to local residents Ken and Linda Acott.
The couple have donated £20,000 from their ‘Acott Foundation’ to support the charitable work of St John in Guernsey.
The Acott Foundation was set up by Mr & Mrs Acott in late 2018 and concentrates on making grants to medical, health, wellbeing, education and community support causes. The foundation has previously supported the Guernsey Welfare Service and similar projects in the UK.
Mr & Mrs Acott moved to Guernsey last year, but have a long association with the island, having lived here previously and through business involvement, principally with the First Central Group (FCG).
Ken Acott said: “The work of St John Ambulance Guernsey meets the objectives of the Foundation and when we read in the Guernsey Press of the fantastic range of works being undertaken by the St John team during the pandemic, the strain that had placed on individual members and on the finances of the charity, it seemed to be a perfect cause for us to support.”
“The launch of the £100k fundraising appeal was the ideal opportunity for us to get in contact and make the donation. We are delighted to support St John’s operation locally and hope our donation will help kick off a highly successful fundraising project,” he added.
Shortly, before moving to Guernsey Mr & Mrs Acott supported their local food bank and in the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic, funding 70,000 meals over 3 months for staff at the Royal Surrey Hospital in Guildford.
Nikki Harrison, Chief Executive Officer of St John Ambulance Guernsey said: “When I first spoke to Ken on the phone and he told me he wanted to give the charity a grant of £20,000 it took a moment to sink in. This donation is a huge boost to our fundraising appeal and coming so soon after the appeal was launched, it gives us a massive head start towards our target. On behalf of the charity and all those in the community who benefit from our work, I would like to say a heartfelt thank you.”
Anyone wishing to donate to St John can do so by emailing fundraising@stjohn.gg or by calling 01481 727129. Donations can also be made online via https://giving.gg/donate/charity/54/St-John-Guernsey-LBG
The St John Ambulance Guernsey charity appeal was launched at the start of February and aims to raise £100,000 to continue to improve the lives of islanders through provision of Event First Aid, Community First Responders, the Flying Christine III marine ambulance, Badgers & Cadets, Community Library, Cycle Response Unit, the Volunteer Ambulance Reserves and Covid-19 Response.
St John has also produced a wish list of projects and essential items which businesses or individuals can sponsor:
- sponsorship of a volunteer Community First Responder to cover the cost of training and life-saving equipment,
- a Zoll AED which can be used to deliver a life-saving shock to a patient in cardiac arrest,
- a training manikin for volunteers to practise their first aid skills,
- replacement equipment for event ambulances,
- a defibrillator simulator for training volunteers in life-saving skills,
- sponsorship of the Badger and Cadets youth programme,
- new uniform for volunteers.
Every year St John volunteer First Aiders provide medical cover for more than 100 community events. St John also runs an active youth programme for Badgers and Cadets. Since the start of the current Covid-19 lockdown St John volunteers have given hundreds of hours delivering essential groceries and urgent medical prescriptions to people who are isolating as well as collecting people for their vaccination appointments and deep cleaning frontline ambulances.
St John Ambulance
All of St John Ambulance Guernsey’s community services rely on charitable donations, corporate partnership, bequests and fundraising. Small charges are made for some services such as Event First Aid.