EARLY STRUGGLE OF EDGEGUMBE ST JOHN BRIGADE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 14, Issue 48, 7 October 1949, Page 5

EARLY STRUGGLE OF EDGEGUMBE ST JOHN BRIGADE

From the time of its inception in 1943 up to the present day the history of the St John Ambulance Brigade at Edgecumbe has been one of struggle against odds. However, now that it has the active backing of the Edgecumbe Progressive Association there seems reason to hope that its future is assured. But more active members are urgently needed to ' carry on the service.

Few people seem to realise just what is being done by this small Brigade with its boundless enthusiasm to serve. To date for this year the Brigade has held 22 parades and performed 100 public duties, treating in all 220 cases, only 20 of which were not during public duties. Help At Sports

“Public duties” are attendances of Brigade members to give first aid services at public gatherings such as football, hockey and other sports matches, public shows and the like. Though it will be seen from the above figures that the - sporting bodies actually reaped most benefit from the Brigade’s services, when Brigade membership dropped to four in 1947 and a direct appeal was made to sports organisations to help enrol recruits there was no support forthcoming. That seems difficult to understand; yet the Beacon is assured it happened. When the Brigade was first organised in 1943 its Superintendent was Mr J. Rowntree, secretary Mr J. B. Spiers and honorary surgeon Dr F. J. Appleby. The two lastnamed still hold office, but Mr Rowntree left at the end of 1944 and was replaced by Mr A. S. Massey, of Te Teko, who is still the Superintendent. Four Stalwarts At the outset there were ten active members, but that figure had dropped to four by 1947, and those four carried on through the winter, attending Saturday and Sunday sports, sometimes at Edgecumbe and Matata on the same days. Finally, last year the Progressive Association took a hand, and appointed a special committee (Mrs T. G. Roberts and Messrs S. D. Yardley and V. Green) to co-oper-ate with the Superintendent to try to get the Brigade on a better basis. They recruited 18 candidates for Brigade membership, who all qualified by passing the preliminary examination, but only eight of them went into the Brigade. That was naturally disappointing to those who had spent valuable time coaching the candidates. However, they realise the importance of the work, and are ready to coach fresh candidates as soon as any can be induced to join. Present active strength of the Brigade is 13, but to give adequate service at all sports and other public gatherings at least 20 members are needed. It would not seem unreasonable at this stage to expect the sports bodies who have had the greatest benefit from the Brigade’s services to take a lead in the recruiting campaign. That the selfless service of the few who have carried on all these years in the face of public apathy is deserving of more practical appreciation is undeniable, and it would be indeed encouraging to see other bodies following the Progressive Association’s lead.