As Chief Commissioner, I head a leadership team that focuses on every aspect of the St John volunteer experience. Engaging with our volunteers at all levels is a key part of my role as I ensure that their collective voice is at the heart of everything we do. Being Chief Commissioner also means that I am a Trustee. 

I started my life with St John aged 10 and have been involved with the charity ever since. After running several Cadet units, I went on to hold a number of youth and operational positions until I was appointed the first female Commissioner for London in 2008. I was responsible for our volunteer resourcing for all major events in the capital – including the Diamond Jubilee, Olympics and Paralympic Games – for five years. After St John restructured, I became a District Manager and National Adviser before being appointed Chief Commissioner in 2017.

I spend a great deal of my time working with my colleague Trustees and the Executive Committee setting strategy and ensuring our charity continues to serve the community in the best way it can. I Chair, or am a member of many committees and work groups and, in non-Covid times, I travel the country to attend numerous events, meetings and award ceremonies. ​​​​​​​As the voice and visible leader of St John volunteers, it’s important for me to get out there on the front line and share their experiences and in this way, I ensure I am a strong advocate for their views and concerns.

Previously, I spent 25 years in the NHS ambulance sector in a number of clinical and operational roles. I was previously the Director of Operations at the Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust (WAST), where I helped to improve their performance and reputation. I also played a key role in WAST’s clinical modernisation programme and new response model. 

I’m a registered paramedic and maintain my clinical competency by volunteering for St John at events across the country. I was awarded the Queen’s Ambulance Medal for distinguished ambulance service in 2016. I'm also an examiner for the Royal College of Surgeons Faculty of Pre-Hospital Care in Edinburgh, where I hold a Fellowship in Immediate Care. 

In 2020-21, I led the Strategic Coordination Group for our Covid-19 response, and I am really proud of this organisation and all that St John people achieve. In 2021, I was honoured to be made a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) for my services to healthcare during Covid-19. 

I'm responsible for helping build our long-term strategy and reputation, supporting our relationships with the government and key partners, like the NHS and ensuring that we are able to influence in the public arena. I also focus on ensuring ExCo works effectively together, supporting collaboration across our national networks. 

Previously, I spent over a decade working in the sport and leisure industries in a variety of policy, insight and strategy roles. I helped to write the government’s overall sport strategy, championing the importance of understanding the needs of people and communities in the process. 

I’m here because of my firm belief in the importance of the role St John plays in communities across the country. We have a great story to tell about our past, present and future and an incredible opportunity to make a profound difference to health care in our homes and communities. 

I joined St John as Chief Business Officer in December 2020. My role involves leading the Education and Enterprise Network, while focussing on all our commercial activity as a charity. I lead the Training Operations, Education & Products, Sales Marketing & Business Development, Supplies, Events and Customer Services teams. 

Before joining St John, I was the Chief Executive Officer of St John Ambulance in South Africa. I have a well-developed track record in humanitarian aid development whilst also having served as a Digital Transformation Executive for several blue-chip companies in both South Africa and the United Kingdom. I have also taught and tutored for several years at two universities in South Africa and, more recently, as a guest lecturer at the India School of Business in Hyderabad. 

I’m here because my twin life passions of adding exceptional value and leaving a lasting, positive legacy by continuously applying my commercial, entrepreneurial, networking and strategic management skills in professional practice across the globe. 

I have been a volunteer with St John for a number of years and continue to do so within St John Ambulance in England. I am currently finalising my Doctorate in Post-Pandemic Business Recovery models. 

I joined St John in April 2022. My role is to provide senior strategic leadership across our Engagement & Experience Network to deliver a shared experience for all of our people, supporters and customers and inspire a deeper connection to our mission and values.  

I joined St John from Nesta, a charitable foundation that supports innovation for social good, where most recently I was Chief Partnership Officer with responsibility for building Nesta’s programmes in the four nations of the UK and establishing and spinning out commercial ventures. Before that, I was Nesta’s Executive Director of Programmes, overseeing the distribution of £70m of grants to charities and social enterprises to prototype new ways of working and supporting the best to scale up nationwide. 

Joanne joined St John in September 2022. She looks after all the digital estate, and the data that's associated. She leads the Digital & Intelligence network and our Digital, Technology, Continuous Improvement and Data & Impact teams.

Before St John, she worked for the NHS Business Services Authority, an Arm’s Length Body of the Department of Health and Social Care. They manage over £35 billion of NHS spend annually, delivering a range of national services to NHS organisations, NHS contractors, patients, and the public.

She is also a Non-Executive Director for North Star Housing Group in Stockton.

When she is not working, Joanne loves to spend time on the Northumberland coast, enjoying the beach and the local cafes/pubs.

Meet The Priory Council of Trustees 

This is the Board for St John Ambulance’s parent charity, The Priory of England and the Islands of the Order of St John  

The Prior - Stuart Shilson LVO GCStJ DL 

Stuart Shilson is Prior of the Priory of England and the Islands of the Order of St John, and Chair of St John Ambulance. He is a Bailiff Grand Cross of the Order and was previously a member of its worldwide governing body. As Sub-Prior of the Order internationally, he helped establish an innovative maternal and neonatal care programme in sub-Saharan Africa. He retired as Trustee of British Red Cross recently and is a serving Deputy Lieutenant for Greater London. 

In his professional life, Stuart is a senior partner at global consulting firm McKinsey & Company, focusing on economic and social infrastructure. During a long and illustrious career, he has worked as a commercial barrister and senior civil servant in the Cabinet Office – and spent three years as Assistant Private Secretary to HM Queen Elizabeth II.

Acting Dean - The Reverend Canon Dr Paul Williams CStJ

Paul was born in Chatham, Kent and has attended the universities of St Andrews and Cambridge. He trained for the ordained ministry at Westcott House.

After being appointed Assistant Chaplain at Selwyn College, Paul served a curacy at St Stephen, Chatham and an incumbency at St Augustine, Gillingham, before becoming Personal Chaplain to the Bishop of Rochester. He moved to Tewkesbury in 2003, where he was Vicar of the Abbey, Area Dean and Honorary Canon of Gloucester Cathedral. Paul was appointed Rector of the Sandringham Group of Churches in September 2022.

As Acting Vice Dean of the Priory, he is closely associated with St John Ambulance, is a Commander of the Order and Secretary to the Pro Fide Committee of Grand Council.

Paul is a published author, and is married to Catherine, who is also a priest. They have two adult children, Alice and Harry.

Chief Commissioner - Ann Cable MBE GCStJ DL 

Appointed a Trustee in 2017, Ann Cable began her St John life as a Cadet and has been involved with the organisation ever since. Having run several successful Cadet Units, she went on to hold senior operational positions and was appointed the first female Commissioner for London St John Ambulance in 2008. She led the St John Ambulance volunteer resourcing for all major events in the capital during the period 2008 - 2013. This included Her Majesty The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics and Paralympic Games. Mrs Cable went on to become National Volunteering Adviser and, in 2017, she was appointed Chief Volunteer. In June 2019, she became St John Ambulance's Chief Commissioner, with responsibility for leading our 25,000 volunteers and providing strategic oversight in this area for the charity. 

Now retired from her professional life as a headteacher and school inspector, Ann also thoroughly enjoys her role as the Representative Deputy Lieutenant for the London Borough of Enfield.  

Dr Ros Smith CStJ 

Dr Ros Smith had been involved with St John since becoming a first aider in 1984 and has most recently trained as a St John volunteer vaccinator. She has been a trustee of a number of charities and is currently Chairman of Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust, supporting Cambridge University Hospitals, as well as being a trustee of a grant-making charity concentrating on education and social mobility. 

Ros’s business background was in the software industry, where she was one of the founders, and COO, of Geneva Technology which achieved a valuation of $700 million when it merged with Convergys Corporation in 2001. She now runs a multi asset class investment organisation, and in 2019 founded Friargrove, a fund of funds focused on funding businesses working on initiatives and innovations that have a positive environmental, social or medical impact. 

In 2021 Ros was awarded the Life Saving Medal of the Order of St John, in silver, for her part in assisting two climbers in poor weather conditions on Mt Blanc.  

Ashley Sweetland MBE CStJ 

Ashley Sweetland began his St John volunteering aged 8 and has been involved ever since. He was St John Ambulance National Cadet of the Year 2000 and has held several senior operational roles. Most notably, Ashley has played an instrumental role for over 15 years in the formation, development and leadership of Cycle Response Units across the country, including supporting the concept in other parts of St John internationally. He joined Priory Council in 2021 having served on Priory Chapter since 2016.

Professionally, Ashley is Head of Global Communications, Engagement and ESG at Convatec Group Plc, a leading international medical products and technologies company, having previously held a variety of corporate affairs and strategic communications roles for organisations including InterContinental Hotels Group Plc and CBRE.

Ashley has served as a trustee of the UK Youth Parliament and National Council for Voluntary Youth Services. He was awarded the MBE for services to young people in 2012.

Tanya Coff

Tanya is a senior executive leader with more than 30 years experience of financial management across the public and private sector, including industry experience of rail and aviation transport, large scale infrastructure programmes and international retail.

Tanya is Chief Finance Officer of the Palace of Westminster Restoration and Renewal Delivery Authority, the organisation responsible for designing and delivering the works on behalf of both Houses of Parliament. Prior to this she was with Transport for London, where her final role was Finance Director of London Underground, responsible for the finance, commercial, transformation and strategy teams.

Tanya is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and serves as a trustee and treasurer of a human rights charity. She joined the Priory Council of the Priory of England and the Islands of the Order of St John as trustee/treasurer in January 2023 and is a member of the Finance Committee of St John Ambulance.