A St John Badger with the Skip for St John

A new fundraising campaign to raise money for St John rescue and community services is being launched by Island Waste, the largest collector and re-cycler of commercial waste in Guernsey.

The organisers of the Skip For St John campaign are placing three specially designed Island Waste skips at key places around the island and inviting islanders to ‘re-cycle’ any spare cash to help sustain the vital rescue and voluntary community work.

‘Few people realise that important life-saving services such as cliff rescue, inshore rescue and the St John marine ambulance are funded entirely by donations from members of the general public,’ says Dan Hubert, CEO of Island Waste.

“We feel very strongly that these fundamental rescue services need to be supported together with the valuable voluntary work that is done by St John at events and with the youth, and public awareness of how they are funded needs to be raised.”

“We are positioning our special skips at Le Friquet Garden Centre, Alliance supermarket and Guernsey Airport and hope that islanders will recognise the fantastic contribution that St John has given to the people of the Bailiwick for over 60 years, sometimes in dangerous or very challenging conditions.”

Jurat David Hodgetts, Chair of the St John Fund Raising Committee says that fund-raising is a very important process for the organisation.

“Our rescue teams are all volunteers as are our community first-responders, library assistants and youth leaders.  The cost of their equipment and training comes entirely from the kind donations and bequests that we receive.  We would like to thank everyone who makes  a financial contribution or is involved in raising funds for St John and we are delighted that Island Waste are launching this initiative”.

Representatives from all sections of St John at the launch of the Island Waste Fundraiser