Modern day saints

AT any major event, from football at Boundary Park to the Foo Fighters rocking Manchester, a dedicated army of volunteers will be on hand.

They are literally lifesavers — the trained volunteers who make up St John Ambulance, the first-aid charity.

In distinctive black and white uniforms, they can administer immediate first-aid before paramedics arrive, or simply dress a simple cut or sprain.

Oldham’s divisional centre on Busk Road, off Chadderton Way, is also the area office for St John in Greater Manchester East. It nurtures and trains new generations of first-aiders every week.

The charity’s origins date back more than 900 years to the Crusades, when followers cared for sick and poor pilgrims to Jerusalem.

Now they are more likely to staff the front-line first-aid post on Yorkshire Street in Oldham at weekend, or any major football and rugby match in the borough.

Volunteers start young — the Badgers aged six to 11 meet every Friday night from 6 to 7.30pm, led for the past 15 years by husband and wife team Mark and Julie Travis.

As well as studying for badges in adventures, activities, first-aid, caring, ecology, entertainment and a host of other categories, they also have bronze, silver, gold and super Badger awards. Mark and Julie recently organised a weekend sleep-over at the centre.

Julie said: “It took us until about Tuesday to recover but it was great fun.

“We had a pyjama parade, watched DVDs, did games and also worked towards a badge.”

Mark added: “We get enjoyment from it and it’s rewarding. The children are bright and their parents enthusiastic.

“We have had children from here who have gone on to university, one works in a path lab, another is a staff nurse. That’s what makes it.”

And it’s a family affair for the Lotockyj clan. Daughter Larysa is a cadet sergeant, her mum Lorna is a divisional cadet officer and father Stefan operates as an area staff officer, looking after cadets in eight divisions.

Older children join the Cadets, where their advanced first-aid still leaves time for fun and more awards.

Rhiannon Burden (17) is an Oldham Sixth Form student. She took a baby and children life-saving course when she was 13 to become a baby sitter, but liked it so much she stayed on.

Now a lead cadet she helps out at Latics matches and was on duty at a Manchester concert by the Foo Fighters.

Rhys Wareing (15), from Royton and Crompton School, has joined because he wants to be a firefighter.

He said: “I want to give myself the biggest chance I can — doing first-aid will help.”

During the day, the Busk Road centre is used for commercial first-aid training and refresher courses, for a variety of organisations from police to plumbers. But at night it also makes sure the St John staff are up to date with their training, which has to be accredited every year, from 19 basic skills up to administering gases and using a defibrillator or heart-start machine.

Area commissioner Moya Travis has been in St John for 25 years. She has cared for casualties at the Great Manchester Run — and helped to run Oldham’s pioneering mobile medical unit on Yorkshire Street. This sifts out the minor casualties from Oldham’s pub-goers at weekends and treats them, while helping paramedics taking the more serious cases to hospital with background information about them.

Moya said: “You can watch as many training videos as you like, but that was the real thing — like a year’s training in one night.”

There is also a St John division in Saddleworth, which is on hand during the Saddleworth Olympics. The headquarters are on High Street, Uppermill, with about 30 members, headed by divisional superintendent Carol Calvert.

Divisional officer Lois Priestley is duty manager and arranges cover at the venues scattered across the villages.

She said: “We are used to busy weekends because we have the beer walk, band contests, a folk weekend, the rushcart festival and we are at Saddleworth Rangers every Sunday.”

And it’s a family affair for the Lotockyj clan, as daughter Larysa is a cadet sergeant, her mum Lorna is a divisional cadet officer, and father Stefan is an area staff officer, looking after cadets in eight divisions.