Derry’s St John Ambulance celebrate 90 years of community service

St Peter’s Church on Derry's Culmore Road hosted a service at the weekend to mark 90 years of continuous volunteering by St John Ambulance in the city and the North West.

During the First World War and for a brief period after the war, St John volunteers operated in the Londonderry area. Indeed, with volunteers from Donegal, they provided personnel for Voluntary Aid Detachments across the UK and on the Western Front in France and Flanders. 

However, it wasn’t until 1933 that the organisation became a permanent feature of life in the city itself. That came about with the opening of Craigavon Bridge in July of that year. Key to the formation of St John units in the city was the Mayor, Sir Dudley McCorkell, who had also played a major role in the Derry/Donegal Voluntary Aid Detachments of the First World War. 

IN PICTURES: Derry’s St John Ambulance celebrate 90 years of community service

Photos: nwpresspics

It was Sir Dudley’s vision that saw volunteers recruited in time to provide first-aid cover for the day that Craigavon Bridge was opened officially. Their training was exhaustive and a large contingent of volunteers was ready to deal with any situation on what turned out to be an exceptionally hot day. 

The ‘big day’ on Craigavon Bridge was the beginning of decades of volunteer work for St John in the city and its hinterland that included first-aid cover at major sporting events, including Derry City FC’s home games in the Brandywell.

During the Second World War, St John Ambulance played a significant role in the civil defence organisation. With the city becoming a critical naval base during the Battle of the Atlantic, volunteer numbers increased and their role expanded to include work with victims of shipwrecks who were brought ashore in the city. Hundreds of volunteers were trained by St John in the city with much of the training conducted in the Guildhall. 

After the war, expansion continued with new divisions being formed and the Londonderry area ‘growing’ to include Strabane and Limavady. Amalgamation with Tyrone and Fermanagh led to the creation of Western Area while a more recent re-organisation sees the city and district in a new Northern Area with its headquarters at Skeoge. 

Members of St John's Ambulance with Mayor Patricia Logue and Robert Miller, Archdeacon of Derry.

St John volunteers served throughout the most difficult days of the ‘troubles. The familiar black-and-white uniforms provided re-assurance at many events. While the uniform has changed, the ethos remains as it always had been.

Today, St John volunteers are to be seen at many public events as they live out the twin mottos of the Order: Pro Fide. Pro Utilitate Hominum. (For the Faith. For the Service of Humanity.)