St John WA Great Southern volunteers gather to connect and learn
On 23 May 2025, 80 St John WA volunteers gathered in Albany for the Great Southern Volunteer Forum.
The event was a collaboration between a newly established Forum Volunteer Committee and the Great Southern District Office, to acknowledge and celebrate National Volunteer Week.
The day brought together local volunteers, St John WA staff, and special guests, along with a packed schedule of talks, scenarios and networking.
With some Great Southern volunteers located hundreds of kilometres apart, events like this are key to forging connections and sharing good volunteering practice.
Special guests included former Olympic hockey coach, Dr Ric Charlesworth, who shared a motivating speech on teamwork and dealing with challenges.
While St John WA’s very own Deputy Director of Paramedicine, Andy Bell, and Special Operations Paramedic, Mark Hill, talked about their journeys into paramedicine.
Andy also shared more about his father’s experience as an ambulance volunteer in New Zealand.
Two former patients from the local area shared their incredible stories of survival too – a powerful reminder of the impact St John WA volunteers make.
Val Sloss spoke about surviving a light plane crash near Jerramungup in 1988 where she sustained burns across 85% of her body.
This year, Val celebrated her 75th birthday – a milestone she never thought she would see.
While Dr Alex Sleeman, a GP from Denmark, talked about being a doctor facing the other side of emergency care after being crushed by a vintage tractor on his farm.
Both Val and Alex were cared for by volunteers in Jerramungup and Denmark during their ordeals.
In the afternoon, the Great Southern Community Paramedics got together to present a cardiac arrest patient scenario, from the triple zero call to recovery.
District Operations Manager Toni Melia believes the event is vital to improving the volunteer experience at St John WA.
“With National Volunteer Week’s theme of “Connecting Communities”, the forum was designed to bring our Great Southern Team together to celebrate their roles as volunteers and to provide them with inspirational stories of the impact that they, and their peers, around the district have had on their communities,” she said.
“Some amazing stories of survival were shared by our guests, who survived catastrophic situations under the care and compassion of our local St John WA volunteers.”
Toni said attendees found the day “positive and motivating”.
St John WA’s Country Ambulance has more than 4000 volunteers supporting the service, which covers the biggest footprint of any single ambulance service in the world — 2.5 million square kilometres or 33 per cent of the Australian landmass.
Learn more about volunteering with St John WA.