Whanganui's Betty Simpson has served St John for 67 years

Long-serving volunteer Betty Simpson prepares for the next St John book sale.

Sixty-seven years, 121 book sales and many friends.

Those are just some of the achievements Whanganui's Betty Simpson has racked up as one of St John's longest-serving volunteers.

Simpson has served the organisation for 67 years, starting as a cadet officer in Nelson in 1951. She moved to Whanganui after she married Edward (Ted) Simpson, a surgical boot maker.

The couple met when they were involved in St John in Nelson. Ted was asked to move back to work at Whanganui Hospital and Betty, who did her nursing training in Nelson, followed him after they were married. She went on to have a long career in nursing in Whanganui.

Betty Simpson says there have been massive changes in St John over the years.

"In the days when I started we had a little old truck as an ambulance and we used to go to field days and do training. It's much more skilled today than when I started. It was pretty hard in the early days. We didn't have the equipment or pain relief we do now. It's much better for the patients now.

"St John is more recognised for the work they do - for many years that didn't happen. The standard of people working for St John now needs to be higher and the ambulance personnel themselves are studying all the time.

"St John was always run by men in New Zealand but there are more women in it now and they are trying to make sure there is a balance of people. That's very important I think."

One of Simpson's initiatives was to set up the St John Fellowship in Whanganui.

"It's a group for people who worked for or had something to do with St John," she said.

"A lot of places, when you leave you're gone and you have nothing more to do with it. This is a group for people who have retired from service and we help them with pastoral care."

Simpson started out in St John by training youth in Nelson and says the organisation's young people are an asset.

"The youth are great. That's our future so we train them to be good citizens. We have some very fine kids coming through now. They are being taught the basics and how important it is to be good people themselves."

Simpson served on the Wanganui Area Committee from 1987 and recently retired from it. She was a regional representative on the St John Priory Chapter for 30 years. She was admitted to the Order of St John in 1965, was promoted to Officer in 1974, then to Commander in 1978 and to Dame of Grace in 2006.

Many Whanganui volunteers and paid staff received service medals at a recent ceremony in Feilding. They were:

Betty Simpson (67 years); Jamie Coull, James Greer (27 years); Robert Coull, Patrick Connole (12 years); Rochelle Tanner, Lois Campbell, Hayley Bishop (9 years); Stephanie Juggins, Sam Kellick, Michelle McKenzie, Margaret Haddon, Karen Rattray, Glenn Weck (6 years); Unice Johns, Susan McNabb, Rose Coleman, Robyn Jordan, Ray Walton, Peter Eaton, Owen Jones, Mary Hirini, Marlene Mancer, Lance Patterson, John Turner, Helen Connole, Gary Barnacott, Fiona Sibbald, Don Sanders, Dianne Barclay, Cathy McQuoid, Brendan Wilson (3 years).

Acting Whanganui station manager Andrew Prescott said the 262 years' combined service amongst the award recipients showed a huge dedication to the community.

"A mix of paid and volunteer staff, all the team have one thing in common and that's a genuine desire to make a difference in people's lives," he said.