Fellow travellers
John Smith, County Respresentative for the St John Ambulance Fellowship in Surrey, has been a GTO for the past eight years and recently joined the Duke of Gloucester for the organisation’s 25th anniversary celebrations. Carrie Drage learns more.
Organising is in the blood for John Smith who began leading youth camps for St John Ambulance more than 30 years ago. When he retired from service, this interest naturally progressed to a group organiser role within the St John Ambulance Fellowship. He says, “This year is the Fellowship’s 25th anniversary so the Duke of Gloucester – who has been the Grand Prior of the Order of St John (which St John Ambulance is affiliated to) since 1974 – joined us for the annual AGM.”
John himself joined St John Ambulance as an 11-year old cadet during World War II. He laughs, “I wanted to join so that I could walk down the road blowing a bugle!” He has continued to support the organisation ever since and, altogether, has served in St John Ambulance or as a member of the Fellowship, for more than 60 years.
For those of you unfamiliar with the work of St John Ambulance, it is an internationally-recognised charity organisation – comprising a network of adults and youths, mostly in a voluntary capacity- which provides first aid and welfare services at public events, trains the public in first aid and runs a private ambulance service.
John says, “The St John Fellowship was set up because it was recognised that when a person has devoted a large part of their life to an organisation, it is often a wrench when you have to retire from service.”
There are now more than 100 Fellowship branches in the UK, whose main objectives are to support the charitable activities of St John Ambulance and to help former members who are either housebound, incapacitated, in hospital or in residential homes.
Today there are more than 3,000 members across the UK who pay an annual fee of 5 pounds. More than 200 of these are based in the Surrey region, the area that John is responsible for.
Maintaining order
John has been a member of the St John Ambulance Fellowship for 15 years altogether and has been a GTO for the organisation for the past eight years. He says, “I had been thinking about getting involved with the group organising side of the Fellowship and I was invited along to Excursions at London’s Alexandra Palace. This gave me a lot of ideas about what I could do in terms of arranging trips and I then put myself forward for the role.” Together with the 10 members of the East Surrey branch committee, he helps organise more than 20 trips and events annually. The committee meet, on average, every four or five weeks, which is how the annual programme of events and outings is decided upon. He says, “We tend to plan three or four trips at a time and advertise them in the quarterly newsletter. This is mailed out to all of our members at the Addlestone, East Surrey and Guildford branches, the division that myself and the committee organise for.” He continues, “Everybody on the committee has a say in the kind of trips we run. It is very much a collaborative effort.”
When it comes to finding inspiration for future outings and holidays, John finds it useful to attend some of the UK’s travel trade shows. He smiles, “We are becoming quite well-known now with our prominent maroon-coloured St John Ambulance t-shirts.” He continues, “We also get a lot of ideas from GTO magazine.”
Day dreaming
The main focus of the annual programme for the Surrey branches of the Fellowship is day trips. Transport is often provided by local coach firms; however, for smaller groups, the Fellowship operates a St John Ambulance minibus. The team then arranges visits to attractions direct.
The group have taken a number of interesting trips over the years. He explains, “In 2002, 50 of us visited the village of Street in Somerset. It is where Clarks used to manufacture their shoes and there is now a Shoe Museum on the site housing every type of shoe imaginable. This forms part of a larger shopping outlet complex called Clarks Village where there are lots of stores to browse.”
Another trip that proved particularly memorable was a visit to Buckinghamshire’s Bletchley Park in 2003, a former codebreaking site during World War II. John says, “As a tip, a good time to visit is on one of its open days when people dress up in wartime clothing and wear gas masks.”
On another trip in 2006, 21 of the members took a cruise on the River Trent in Nottingham. John says, “One of my ex-cadets runs a St John Ambulance boat, named the ‘Crusader’, so we travelled up early in the morning and had about five very pleasant hours on the river.”
The same year, 20 of the members took a train to London to watch Trooping the Colour on Horse Guards Parade. John explains, “Many of our members have done first aid duties at past events so it’s always nice to return and enjoy the ceremony.”
As with many GTOs, there are certain trips that are arranged more regularly than others. In John’s case, it’s the annual visit to the Festival of Remembrance at London’s Royal Albert Hall in November, an occasion that pays tribute to the armed forces and the victims who lost their lives during conflicts. Last year, 25 people took a train up to the capital to watch the afternoon performance. John says, “It’s always something our members are keen to attend and many of them go back on the Sunday to march in the parade with the Royal British Legion.”
As part of the annual programme, some of the members also enjoy days out in the minibus. One of the trips that is usually run annually is to the Royal British Legion Poppy Factory in London. According to John, the trip has been made at least a dozen times and yet no two visits have ever been the same. He smiles, “We seem to get a different guide each time and each person puts a different view on it.”
Accessibility is an issue that must be considered when John and his committee organise any day trips, particularly since all of the members are mature and many are in wheelchairs. In 2004, a minibus of members visited the Royal Air Force Museum, London. John remembers, “One lady in the group was in a wheelchair and we were all very impressed with the design of the Museum, which made it very easy for pushing wheelchairs around.”
Another popular minibus outing was to the Corpus Christi Carpet of Flowers at Arundel Cathedral, in Sussex. Last year, two minibus loads visited the event on consecutive days. John reveals, “For a small donation, you can sit in the pews and on the last day you can even walk on the flowers.”
In addition to regular day trips to UK visitor attractions, John and his committeee also organise a number of tea parties and the Surrey branches attend events for St John Ambulance as a whole including the St John Day parade from London’s Smithfield Market to a service at St Paul’s Cathedral, in June and the Christmas celebrations in Trafalgar Square.
Regional retreats
Once a year, in October, a coachload of the Surrey members enjoy a holiday in the UK. The week-long holidays include daily excursions to nearby visitor attractions, all of which are booked directly with the venues. Over the past nine years, members have visited destinations such as the Isle of Wight, Shrewsbury, Norfolk and Gloucestershire.
The first holiday the members enjoyed was to Scotland with Argyll-based Highland Heritage Coach Tours. John says, “The company can help tailor-make a programme to suit you, which is great. Plus, you can provide your own coach, if preferrable.” The group enjoyed Scotland so much that they returned the following year for a four-day break. He explains, “This time, we booked through Co-Op Travel, based in the West Midlands, who successfully organised train travel for us. I arranged a visit to the Edinburgh Tattoo on one evening and the atmosphere was amazing. We had great seats too.”
It was John who first introduced holidays to the group’s annual programme but he has since passed the responsibility on to a former County Commander for St John Ambulance. The services of Leicestershire coach firm Robinson’s are now used for transport on these trips. John explains, “One of our members knew of the company so we asked if a trip to the Isle of Wight could be arranged. They turned out to be extremely helpful and we got on well with the driver, so we’ve used the company every year since.”
On the annual holidays, the members always like to visit other St John Ambulance Fellowship groups from around the UK. John explains, “We contact other groups to help us with comfort stops en route to the destination. Once we arrive, we often have one afternoon when we visit a local St John Ambulance headquarters for a tea party or invite them back to our hotel.” Four years ago, the members were staying at the Carrington Hotel in Dorset and arranged a private performance from one of the county’s St John Ambulance bands. He says, “For a donation, they played a few songs for us in one of the Hotel’s function rooms. It was great.” He remembers, “We had a wonderful time on that holiday. The hotel was pure five-star luxury and the staff were wonderful.” He continues, “We visited The National Trust’s Corfe Castle and Kingston Lacy on a couple of the excursions. We tend to visit a lot of National Trust properties as many of our members also belong to the organisation, which makes the holiday more affordable for them as they can get in free.”
In 2005, the members enjoyed a holiday to Derbyshire. John reveals, “We had an excursion to Chatsworth House, which was marvellous. I could have spent all day there. We also visited the Silk Museum, in Macclesfield, where we had a guided tour. The guide explained very well how the machines worked and how the weaving used to be done.” Another excursion that stands out for John was the trip to Crich Tramway Village. He says, “The tramway museum there is very good.”
Last year, the members took their annual holiday to Torquay, in Dorset. The group stayed at the Belgrave Hotel overlooking the beach, currently closed but re-opening in July as a Premier Inn. John says, “The group were overjoyed with the hotel. It really was very good.” A popular excursion for the members was a visit to nearby Paignton Zoo. He explains, “The Zoo was one of the best I’ve been to. There was so much to see and it was easy to make your way around.” The group also enjoyed a visit to Dartington Crystal, in Great Torrington, to see the glass being crafted. John reveals, “It certainly makes a memorable visit.”
Although the members do not take overseas breaks – mainly because many of them have trouble flying or travelling by sea – as an exception last year, John and 11 members from the Surrey branches enjoyed a week-long holiday to Jerusalem, in Israel, which was arranged through the London branch of the Fellowship. He says, “A fundamental part of our organisation is to raise funds for the St John Eye Hospital in Jerusalem.” He continues, “Last year was the Hospital’s 125th anniversary and 80 members from the UK flew over for the event in May, along with many others from all over the world. There was a service at St George’s Cathedral, which normally only holds 250 people but this time had in excess of 450.”
Forward planning
Although John and his team find organising a joy, there is one small matter that he feels strongly about. He states, “Single room supplements – it’s what knocks the price for six every time. It’s time the industry did something.”
Despite these concerns, John hopes to remain a vital figure in the programme planning process. He and his team have already set much of the agenda for this year and outings so far will include a visit to the RAF Bentley Priory in Middlesex, Warwick Castle and Firle Place in Sussex, as well as the annual holiday, to be taken in York at the Aldwark Manor Hotel.