"We do not want anyone to suffer from the lack of first aid"

Sunday 27 June 2021

After 26 years in the police, an islander has taken the helm of a first aid charity where she volunteered as a cadet in her teenage years.

Sarah Harman's priorities will be helping St John Ambulance get into a healthy financial position, and recruiting more adult volunteers to help bring down the waiting lists of children keen to learn about first aid.

She has become the new CEO of St. John Ambulance after Barry Marsden announced he would be returning to the UK after five years working for the charity.

It came after the charity, faced with covid-depleted funds, had to reduce the salary of its CEO, making it too difficult for Barry to afford to continue renting in the island and travelling to/from the UK where his family are based.

Sarah joins the charity from the Police where she spent 26 years as a Detective Inspector in the public section, dealing with child protection, domestic violence, and other criminal issues.

Pictured: Barry spent five years at the helm of St. John Ambulance.

“I had done 26 years, which is a long time in any job or any role - it was time to do something different,” she explained. “I was a Police Inspector for 10 years, there were not many roles I had not done in the police. I told my husband, ‘I feel it’s time for me to leave.'

“I had a wonderful career, I met some wonderful people and had some amazing opportunities and learned skills that I can transfer to that role.”

During her time in the police, Sarah worked with a number of local agencies and charities, including the British Heart Foundation, which helped her equip all police cars with AEDS as well as providing one to be installed at the station. 

When the time came for her to leave the force, Sarah was not particularly interested in joining the private sector. When a friend mentioned the role at St. John Ambulance, she didn’t hesitate to apply, especially since she had been a cadet in her teenage years. 

“I thought, actually, I have worked in the police service all my life, it would be very difficult to do something different,” she explained. “I was aware of the difficulties, the charity has been affected like all other charities, hopefully I have the skills to help.”

Pictured: Sarah spent 26 years in the force.

Stepping into the Midvale Road-based headquarters gave Sarah some flashbacks, as she says some of the rooms have not changed in 40 years. She remembers canoeing trips with the charity, as well as serving teas and coffees to visitors at Overdale Hospital.

“There was lots going on that we would get involved in,” she said. “I was in for quite a number of years - four or five years. I do not remember doing any other charity work so it must have struck a chord with me as a charity.” 

Sarah says her experience with the charity gave her confidence and a “bag of tools” that she used during her career – in her first two days in the force, she had to administer CPR.

"The most important thing is you learn is to be a volunteer and give your time for nothing,” she said. “It gives you confidence, skills and a bag of tools for life, whether you end up saving someone’s life or not, you know you can and have the confidence to do it.”

She also recalls how her volunteering gave her an extra boost in her interview for the force as her interviewing officer ended up being her former cadet leader’s son.  “It shows all the importance of volunteer work!”

Pictured: There is a currently a list of children waiting to join the charity's youth clubs.

Sarah is keen to recruit more adult volunteers to ensure more children have access to the same experience as she had. A number of children are currently on a waiting list hoping to join the charity’s youth clubs. 

“If we had more adult volunteers, we could let more kids to join. We do not want anyone to suffer from the lack of first aid.”

While local charities are always calling for more volunteers, Sarah says St. John’s volunteers “realistically” do not need to give a “huge amount of time”. She also says the charity has “a little bit more to offer”. 

“It’s going to give you the right skills to have the confidence to deal with things and situations that we all find ourselves in our life and you are giving kids the opportunity to learn all those skills and do all those activities,” she said.  

“You become part of a family. The volunteers really support each other, for a lot of people it’s been a huge part of their life.”

Sarah also wants to raise the profile of the charity and to make islanders aware of all the things it does - from its mental health first aid course to the adult carers programme and how it “stepped up” during the pandemic. 

“Our volunteers did over 2,000 hours at the vaccination centre since it started in December,” she said. “We covered the ambulance service when it was short-staffed, we helped with the delivery of PPE. A lot of people were not aware of what we did in the background. 

“There was no question about the volunteers doing that, they just stepped up. When I think about the hours some of those guys have done, it’s phenomenal, and they all have families. They have full-time jobs, and they continue to give a huge amount of time to the public. 

“They were just getting on with whatever they were asked to do, which is a testament to what the charity is really. Everyone commits to a huge amount of time, everyone who works here has charity in their heart.”