East of England Ambulance CFR scoops major award
Monday, 15 November, 2010
A community first responders based in Stevenage has recently won a regional award by the volunteering charity, VInspired.
As one of nine regional winners, James Springall was whittled down from over 700 nominations nationwide for the eight awards and James was in receipt of the Spirit Award which praises an all-round commitment to volunteering; embodying the spirit of volunteering.
James who was nominated by fellow St John Ambulance member Reece Goldsmith, gained the award in recognition of his work with leading first aid charity St John Ambulance and his commitment to his community first responder role on behalf of the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust. He has been a member of St John Ambulance for 10 years since joining as a Cadet and regularly gives up his free time during evenings and most weekends to provide first aid cover at public events in and around Stevenage.
One of the trusts community partnership managers, Steve Catley, said: "First and foremost this is excellent news for our trust, our colleagues within the St John Ambulance and most importantly, the community of Stevenage James serves. It has been a pleasure to have James on board our team and the trust are delighted to hear James has been recognised for dedication to helping others in his spare time, well done."
James said of his volunteering and the award: 'I joined St John Ambulance because I wanted to put something back into the community and I've always been interested in the medical profession and helping people. It was quite a surprise to have been nominated for the award, let alone to have won the regional round!
'I volunteer with St John Ambulance in Hertfordshire and also help out at London District. Some of my favourite events to provide first aid cover at are the Stevenage firework display, the Sonisphere festival and Tottenham Hotspur matches which I go to regularly. I really enjoy both my volunteering roles and am hoping to do my patient transport attendant course next year so that I can become an emergency vehicle attendant for St John Ambulance. I am really honoured that Reece chose to nominate me for this award and feel very proud and to have won the regional round.'
VInspired is a small organisation with the big task: to inspire a new generation of young volunteers. To do this they work with over 500 voluntary sector organisations and over 150 private sector partners to create innovative youth volunteering opportunities. Through its website,www.vinspired.com it aims to match young people between the ages of 16-25 to volunteering work with charities what will reflect their interests, cares and passions. Young people can also track their volunteering time on the website enabling them to gain awards for the amount of time they give.
The regional winners will be shortlisted to national finalists in January next year and national award winners will be announced in March next year.
