Cippenham Cadet meets Princess Royal

St John Ambulance Cadet Alex Harvey from Cippenham, Berkshire received high praise from HRH The Princess Royal at a recent reception held at Buckingham Palace.

Grand Prior Award

Her Royal Highness, congratulated Alex along with other young people from the organisation on gaining their Grand Prior Award; the highest award a Cadet can achieve.

The award marks at least three years of sustained effort studying 24 different subjects - from using new media and working in the community, to learning about the history of St John Ambulance.

Alex, who is 15 and is studying for his GCSE’s at the Westgate School in Slough, joined St John as a Badger (5 -10 year olds) when he was just six, and now as a Cadet has taken on a helper role within the same Badger group to pass on the skills he has learnt to the charity’s younger members. Alex also attends events within the county as a first aider alongside adult members.

Alex was delighted to meet Her Royal Highness: ‘Visiting Buckingham Palace and meeting The Princess Royal was an amazing experience and one I will never forget. Being part of St John Ambulance is so much fun and has given me many opportunities that I may have missed out on had I not joined.

'Through helping out with the Badgers I have developed more confidence and maturity and have met lots of new people.’

Russell Wernham, County Commissioner Youth for St John Berkshire commented: ‘It’s important that we recognise the achievements of young people. They’ve worked so hard and demonstrated real commitment to learning and developing new skills. Alex is a valuable member of St John and I am pleased that he has had the opportunity to meet HRH.

As youth leaders we are always proud when our Badgers and Cadets are rewarded in such a way as this and we encourage more young people to join us. We are always on the lookout for more adult leaders too, so we would love to hear from anyone who would be interested.’

Approximately 120 Cadets were invited to the Palace to represent St John Ambulance from across the country. Up to two Grand Prior Award winners from each county were invited and Cadets were nominated by the county Principal Youth Officer for their outstanding hard work and dedication.  In addition, the County Cadet of the Year, Natalie Dennehy from Theale was also invited to meet HRH The Princess Royal.