JOIN Board meets in Brussels

Brussels, Belgium, 04th April 2022

After two years of online meetings due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the JOIN Board finally met face-to-face in Brussels. Participants were our Chairman Mark Broughton (St John Ambulance), our Vice-Chairman Christian Velten-Jameson (Association des Œuvres de Saint-Jean) and Lidwien van der Reep (Johanniter Nederland). Johannes Bucher (Johanniter Austria) attended the meeting online.

The organisation of the AGM in Cyprus was the first topic addressed, and the Board is looking forward to physically meeting again with JOIN delegates in a few weeks’ time. Comprehensive financial information was then provided by our Vice-Chairman.

The meeting continued with discussions on the massive effort of all JOIN members to deliver material, medical and financial aid to Ukrainian refugees. While our members are running numerous activities on the ground, the JOIN Office translated its European First Aid Guidelines into Ukrainian, whilst a translation into Russian is in progress.

The JOIN Office gave feedback on the working groups’ activities, including the drafting of a First Aid Manual for Young People by the Clinical Working Group and upcoming opportunities within the Volunteer Swap program. Finally, an update was provided on the implementation of the European MED1stMR project, developing innovative mixed reality training for medical first responders.

Picture by Johanniter International

From left to right: Mark Broughton (England), Lidwien van der Reep (The Netherlands) and Christian Velten-Jameson (France).