The JOIN delegates met online for a second Annual General Meeting (AGM) this year. Following a formal AGM held online on June 3rd, it was finally not possible to meet face-to-face because of the uncertainties related to the evolution of the pandemic.
The meeting began with the election of a new Board for the years 2021 to 2023. The delegates thanked the resigning Chair Johannes Bucher and unanimously elected Mark Broughton from St John Ambulance to succeed him for the next two years. The other Board members elected were Christian Velten-Jameson (Association des Oeuvres de Saint-Jean France), Lidwien van der Reep (Johanniter Nederland) and Johannes Bucher (Johanniter Austria). Hubertus von Puttkamer (Johanniter Germany) was thanked for the two years he dedicated as a Board member.
Mark Broughton, new JOIN Chairman
This was followed by presentations of the Working Groups providing more detailed information about their activities. The Head of the Clinical Group (Dr Ian Greaves, St John Ambulance) reported on the publication of the JOIN European First Aid for 5 to 7 years old. The booklets have already been translated into a dozen languages and are freely available to the public on the JOIN website (www.johaniter.org). The Chairs of the PR, Marketing & Communication Groups (Dr Robert Brandstetter, Johanniter Austria), the Volunteering & Youth Group (Nancy Kestler, Johanniter Germany) and the Fundraising Group also highlighted JOIN cooperation in those fields.
Thomas Vorwerk reported on the work of the newly created ‘Co-ordination Sub-group of the Orders of St John’ that he is chairing. This was followed by an interesting insight from Richard Lee, the Chief Operating Officer of St John Ambulance in England, into the recruitment and training of St John Ambulance volunteers for the vaccination program.
Finally, after what was perceived by all delegates to be a successful two-year term of the JOIN Board, a session was dedicated to the latest developments at national level.
The AGM 2022 will be hosted by St John Association and Brigade Cyprus from 20th to 22nd May.
