Two Members invited to meet London’s mayor

Two volunteers from London District have been invited to a special reception hosted by Mayor of London, Boris Johnson.

Recognising distinguished members of the community

Dave Connor, Borough Officer for Greenwich and Dean Gardner, Divisional Superintendent of Erith Division, have been specially chosen to attend a formal reception at City Hall being held to recognise distinguished members of the community from Greenwich and Lewisham on March 21.

London District Volunteers are no strangers to such honours. In January, members of the Croydon YOU group met London Mayor Boris Johnson at the London Community Reception at City Hall. Members were among the guests invited to the special event, which was held to champion London’s unsung heroes who give something back to their communities and who make the city a better place.

A lovely surprise to receive the invitation

Connor, who joined the Bexley Division in 2000, was appointed Borough Officer of Greenwich in 2009. He joined St John Ambulance after training as a first aider at work. Realising he needed more practice, he went along to learn more skills. Soon he was helping at large public events and managing other Unit Leaders.

'I started off as a fairly unconfident first aider at work and ended up working on ambulances, so St John Ambulance has made a real change to my life.'

Looking forward to representing St John Ambulance

Gardner has been a Member of St John Ambulance in Erith for 26 years and now manages the busy Division, which has active Adult, Cadet and Badger Groups. He lives in Barnehurst.

'I joined Erith Division as a Cadet in 1984 and I've worked my way up, becoming Superintendent 15 years ago.'

One of Gardner's regular duties is as Station Commander at The Valley for Charlton Athletic's football matches.

'It's an extremely varied role and takes a lot of time, but I really enjoy it,' he said.

Valued and well-respected members

Ann Cable, Commissioner of St John Ambulance London (Prince of Wales's) District, said: 'I am delighted that Dave and Dean have been invited to attend the Mayor’s Reception. They are both valued Members who are well-respected by all and who consistently provide hundreds of hours of service to the community each year.'