To prevent and relieve sickness and injury and to act to enhance the health and wellbeing of people of New Zealand, of all races and creeds anywhere.
Thus reads the mission statement of St John.
To prove their good intentions and their efforts to maintain their already outstanding service to the community, three shiny new vehicles have been added to the St John Wanganui fleet.
Two new ambulances and a new health shuttle for the Wanganui to Palmerston North run were officially received and dedicated in a ceremony at St John Wanganui headquarters in Tawa St last Tuesday.
Wanganui Area chairperson Jenny Burkett opened proceedings and introduced John Stretton, Wanganui Ambulance Station manager.
"Those vehicles, to us," he said, "represent a quantum leap forward in what we're able to provide for our patients and the ease with which we're able to do that as ambulance crew.
"When we look at those ambulances, it is sometimes sobering to consider what's going to happen in those vehicles. Within their walls there will be great sadness, there will be discomfort, pain, anguish, hurt, but there will also be joy - we do have babies born in the backs of ambulances as well.
"So they're a pretty dynamic machine, and the people that work in them have to cope with all of the stresses and strains and all of the angst and anxieties that go with looking after sick and injured patients.
"It's pertinent to realise just what's going to happen within them, and why St John has to get those vehicles blessed."
St John has four main tenets: teamwork, professionalism, empathy and integrity.
"Those are the things that have kept the organisation going, basically, for the past 800 years," says John, "and will keep us going for the next 800 years."
The dedication took place outside where the vehicles were parked, in a ceremony conducted by Betty Simpson (Dame of the Order of St John), Fr John Roberts (chaplain) and Jenny Burkett.
The health shuttle has been in service since early December last year, giving St John Wanganui two such shuttles operating between Wanganui and Palmerston North. The old shuttle, still in service, and the only one with a wheelchair hoist, will be replaced by a new Fiat Ducato as soon as funding allows it.
Of the two new ambulances, one was funded by the Lion Foundation, says Jenny, and the other by St John. "They're worth $200,000 each, including the equipment."
Much of St John funding is generated by the sale of the St John medical alarms, advertised by Carol Hirschfeld on television. She says the words St John 11 times in the 30 second ad, effectively boosting the organisation's profile each time.
Other fund raising is done locally by first aid courses and the popular second hand book sales, successfully run by Jenny.
The chassis of each ambulance is imported and everything else is fitted in New Zealand. These new vehicles are built higher so taller staff can stand upright in the back.
Deputy mayor Rangi Wills also addressed the gathering on behalf of the Wanganui District Council, acknowledging fellow councillors who were present - Sue Westwood and Hamish McDouall - and thanking St John for their ongoing good work.
Grant Pennycook, regional operations manager made two presentations of silver bars with red and black ribbon to recognise work undertaken following the Christchurch earthquakes. The first was to Annette Parkinson, widow of Brian Parkinson who served in Christchurch; the second to John Stretton.
Proceedings concluded after Sharon Duff, of the Whanganui Regional Primary Health Organisation, presented a $6000 donation to St John.
The organisation acknowledges the following funders: The Lion Foundation, TG Macarthy Trust, Charles and Vera Thrush Trust, the Daly Adams Benefit Trust, along with smaller groups in the community.