‘For the community, by the community’: 80 years of service celebrated in Toodyay
St John WA Toodyay Sub Centre marked a milestone at the weekend, with volunteers celebrating 80 years of enduring service to the community.
Toodyay’s ambulance journey started on January 22, 1944, when a group of locals met in the town hall to devise a plan to purchase the community’s first ambulance.
After a year of community fundraising and help from the Toodyay Roads Board and Lotteries Commission, the first ambulance rolled into town a year later.
The sub centre spent the next 40 years operating out of sheds spread across town before settling into a permanent home in 1983 on Stirling Terrace.
Today, Toodyay has 50 volunteers who attend an average of 415 callouts a year.
The team also run a busy Community Transport Service, can be found at community events throughout the year and deliver first aid education across the community.
Generations of volunteers gathered at the sub centre on August 31, to celebrate the lives touched and the impact made by the service over eight decades.
Sub Centre chairperson and volunteer of 29 years Pam Tennant thanked all the volunteers who had given their time and energy to help the service grow.
“There is a saying, from little things big things grow, and how we have grown,” she said.
“Without the hard work, dedication and persistence of those who have gone before us, we would not be in this enviable position that we are in today.
“The mindset of building a service for the community, by the community, has always been the cornerstone of our success.”
Pam said although the sub centre had faced many challenges and changes over the years, it had a bright future ahead.
“With the same hard work, dedication and persistence as shown before, we will continue to thrive,” she said.
“Our Community Transport Service has been running for five years and has proven to be a godsend for many in our community, with the car booked out on most days of the week.”
SJWA Board Chair Sally Carbon joined the event, taking the opportunity to thank some of the sub centre’s longest-serving volunteers for their commitment and perseverance.
This included George Murray (43 years), Paul Harrington (41 years), Lyn Somers (40 years), Daphne Lee (40 years) and Pam (29 years).
Paul serves alongside his brother Glyn Harrington, a volunteer of more than 20 years, who said they were proud to support the community during tough times.
“We’re both pretty honoured to be doing what we are doing,” Glyn said.
“We do a lot of jobs together and sometimes we do jobs that aren’t very nice, and I will go and see Paul and we bounce it off each other and it helps us to get through.
“It does make a big difference when you work with a brother.”
Glyn, who first signed up with SJWA in Jurien Bay in 1977, said although it was tough helping people he knew, it was a privilege to be by their side when they needed it most.
“What I find very rewarding is when people in the street come up to you and give you a big hug after you’ve taken them off to hospital or help them at home in their most vulnerable situations,” he said.
“It can be hard, but it is an honour”.
For Paul, the importance of the role was solidified when he was called to transport his SJWA mentor and ambulance partner Adrian Guthrie to hospital in Perth for the final time.
“I knew I’d never see him again and even now it’s quite emotional to talk about because he was such a great believer in St John and a great advocate,” he said.
“I see it as an honour to serve people at their most vulnerable time.”
Paul said his biggest weapon was being able to talk and joke with patients in the back of the ambulance to help get them through.
He said he made sure to show the same level of care to every patient and treat every callout equally.
“Whatever is going on in their life is important to them, so we have to treat it as a priority one for them – it’s all about compassion,” he said.
For more information on volunteering visit St John Change Lives.
