Wednesday 09 November, 2022: Hundreds of volunteers from St John Ambulance will be keeping communities safe at Armistice Day services across the country this Sunday with 30 St John Cadets playing a key part in the national Remembrance Service in London. 

The service, the first to be led by HM The King - Sovereign Head of St John - will see Cadets marching past the Cenotaph as part of St John’s volunteer contingent representing the 9,000 volunteers who are under 25 and support their communities on behalf of the first aid and health response charity. 

Joining them to pay their respects will be 18 adult St John volunteers and thousands of other veteran, charity and dignitary representatives. 

National Cadet of the Year, Georgina Heron-Edmends, aged 16, from Hemel Hempstead, will lead Cadets through the service and will lay a wreath of remembrance from St John’s younger volunteers. 

Georgina said: “I feel honoured to have this role representing St John Ambulance’s young people from all around the country in our year of youth at such a prestigious event.   

“It's such a privilege to be given this opportunity to not only pay my respects but to represent my peers too.” 

For 100 years, St John’s young people have supported their communities during some of the country's toughest times. 

During the raids on Coventry in 1940, Betty Quinn, a then 17-year-old Cadet, was the first member of St John Ambulance to be awarded the George Medal for Bravery, after she dug a family out of a collapsing air raid shelter and treated their wounds while the bombs continued to fall around her.  

Today, Cadets are given the opportunity to use their skills in other ways including working alongside adult volunteers helping and treating patients at regional and national events. 

This Sunday, more than 800 St John volunteers in England will give first aid support at over 230 Remembrance services locally. 150 volunteers will be based in London across eight treatment centres as the crowds reflect at the Cenotaph. 

Chief Operating Officer for St John, Richard Lee, said: “Every year our volunteers give communities vital support so local services of remembrance can go ahead safely. This Armistice Day is no exception. 

“We have been and will continue to be there for all who need our care. 

“On Sunday we’ll be paying our respects alongside the public as well as our military and emergency service colleagues to remember those who gave their lives for their country as so many of our volunteers did.” 

From the First World War to Operation London Bridge the charity’s volunteers have stood shoulder to shoulder with emergency and military services during the moments that matter for over 145 years – taking on key roles and giving support at the heart of communities. 

St John continues to empower young people and help them reach their full potential through its youth programmes - with many going on to take up careers in uniformed roles such as the NHS and the military. 

2022 marks St John’s Year of Youth where the charity has been celebrating the achievements of its young people who not only learn vital lifesaving skills like first aid, but also develop personal skills such as leadership and resilience through the St John Cadet programme. 

With hundreds of Cadet groups across England, young people aged 10-17 can join others in their area to learn important skills like first aid.