This is a time of great concern for us all.

At St John Ambulance Victoria, we are following Government advice and have put strict measures in place to protect the community we serve, our staff and volunteers who are at the frontline responding to this crisis.

As well as protecting our community we must, however, also consider the financial implications of the virus and the damaging impact it has had on our ability to fulfil our mission to be there for people in sickness, distress, suffering or danger.

We receive no recurrent government funding and our services which fund our work have been severely disrupted. We are seeing a rapid decline in training, first aid products and event bookings. This decline will compromise the future delivery of First Aid by our volunteers in the community, First Aid in Schools, CPR Lab and community transport program.

There will be an enormous demand placed on our teams in the coming days, weeks and months – but we will be there for Victorians.

We are now focused on increasing our capacity to prepare our patient transport team for a surge in demand and are undertaking work to enact our health emergency response capabilities through our volunteers.

That’s why we are asking if you could consider helping us through this difficult period by making a gift today via this link: www.stjohnvic.com.au/support-us/urgent-appeal/

Together have been there standing shoulder to shoulder with Victorians since 1883. We were there for Victorians when they need us most because of you.

We are incredibly grateful for any support.

We are rapidly scaling up our patient transport operations to keep pace with community demand due to COVID-19 and the impact this will have on St John is immense

Right now, we need your assistance to raise $500,000 to:

• Grow our capacity to respond when required to step up our emergency response under the State Health Emergency Response Plan.
• Purchase addition personal protective equipment like face masks, gowns, and gloves to protect the community
• Assist with the up-skilling of our team so they can be deployed as part of our COVID-19 response. This will ensure that vulnerable people in our community receive the help they need when they need it.
• Ensure that our community transport service remains fully operational to support vulnerable people to access vital services and enable them to get to the shops.

By the end of this crisis we expect that we will be in deficit – but this will not stop us from being there for Victorians now.

We need help more than ever at this difficult time. Whatever you can donate today will help to ensure that we can continue to respond to calls for help, providing much needed vital care for the people who need us most.