Volunteers from across south Wales will receive honours this weekend at our annual investiture service.
They’ll be recognised at one of two ceremonies taking place at St Mary’s Priory Church in Abergavenny on Saturday, November 27th.
The service represents an opportunity to acknowledge the contribution made by volunteers to our work over the last year.
Among the honourees are those being promoted within The Order of St John, as well as volunteers who are being recognised for devoting up to 55 years to supporting their local community, with the Long and Ultra Long Service medals.
Other awards, such as the Certificate of Commendation, will be given to individuals that have carried out lifesaving acts, like Luke Ress-Nicholls and Martyn Price, who rushed to the aid of a patient with a severed artery in Powys last November.
Attendees include Dr Gillian Willmore, the Chancellor of the Order of St John, who’ll be making her first visit to Wales for the celebrations following her appointment in 2020.
“I am delighted to be presenting our volunteers with their awards at our Investiture Service on Saturday, to recognise their extraordinary contribution to Welsh communities.”
Prior for Wales, Sir Paul Williams
“We continue to be in awe of the inspiring actions and dedicated service our volunteers give to their communities and to those in need.
We can’t thank them enough for their extraordinary work across an incredibly difficult year.
We’re also excited to welcome Dr Gillian Willmore to Abergavenny for her first official trip to Wales since becoming Chancellor.”
St John Ambulance Cymru Chief Executive Officer, Helen Smith
Our annual investiture service usually takes place at Llandaff Cathedral, Cardiff, in June but was cancelled due to the ongoing pandemic.
Instead, we're holding several smaller services around Wales this year, with Saturday’s ceremony following an earlier service for north Wales volunteers in St Asaph in September, which you can read about here.
Photo of Priory Church from By Acomax - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0