Bishop's Waltham News
St John's new national president
BISHOP'S Waltham resident and community stalwart, Virginia Lovell, has become the figure head for the charity, St John Ambulance.
Mrs Lovell lives next door to the ruins of Bishop's Waltham Palace, which her family has owned for centuries.
She has been involved with St John since 1999, starting as an area president and then becoming Hampshire president and now she has been promoted to Chief President of St John Ambulance for England and the Channel Islands, which also is a voluntary role.
Mrs Lovell's new job will entail fund raising duties and being an ambassador for St John.
She said: "It is very exciting, very challenging, but I am looking forward to it. I think it was Mary Fagan (the current Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire) who suggested I got involved with St John. I have always done a lot of charity work.
"My new role will mean at least two or three days a week in London and I will have to visit all the counties. I have lots of duties. I will be looking at the charity side of things, every county has a president and I will be in charge of them and I will have to put on a president's conference every three years. I will be involved in the Order of St John and doing some fundraising on a large scale in London. It will be a huge learning curve for me."
Mrs Lovell said that St John was a vital service to the way the country was run and it wasn't just about practising bandaging people.
She said: "They are at every single event no matter how big or small. They are there offering first aid to the public and have no statutory funding what-so-ever and are funded by donations.
"The members give their time for free and they work an unbelievable number of hours for the community. Some people do about 1,000 - 1,500 hours of voluntary work on top of their full time jobs. It is very humbling. St John is one of the largest youth organisations in the country and takes children from the age of five upwards.
"Not only do they do first aid, but there is also a programme to do the Duke of Edinburgh Award and the Amalti Challenge. Hampshire also offers a bathing service, which is not always offered by the health authority, and every county offers something different."
Mrs Lovell continued: "St John is a very varied organisation. I feel quite passionate about St John. I think they (members) give so much of their time for other people and I think that is humbling."
Mrs Lovell, a deputy lieutenant for Hampshire, also sits as a magistrate in Southampton and has done lots of fundraising for various charities.
These include the Helping Hand Campaign, which helps disadvantaged children in the Scouting organisation, The Bobby Appeal, which helps elderly victims of crime feel safe in their own homes, and is a patron of Homestart Meon Valley.
Mrs Lovell will remain county president for Hampshire until June.
A spokesman for the Hampshire division of St John Ambulance said the charity had identified potential candidates for the job and announcements would be made subsequently.
8:54pm Tuesday 29th April 2008
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