On 27 March, the JOIN Board came together in The Hague for a regular Board meeting. Participants were JOIN Chairman Johannes Bucher (Johanniter Austria), JOIN Vice-Chairman Christian Velten-Jameson (Association des Œuvres de Saint-Jean), Mark Broughton (St John Ambulance England and The Islands), Hubertus von Puttkamer (Johanniter Germany) and Eric von Troil (Johanniter Finland).
The day began with the approval of the creation of a new status of JOIN ‘Associated member’. This new tool is aimed to attract St John organisations which are currently not member of the JOIN network. Detailed information will be provided at the next AGM in May. This was followed by comprehensive financial information by our Vice-Chairman.
The JOIN Office gave a feedback on the working groups’ activities, and notably the drafting of European First Aid Guidelinesby the Clinical working group. The European project proposal recently submitted on ‘First Aid in School’ and involving ten JOIN members was also presented.Concerning the Volunteer Swap 2019, dozens of St John volunteers already expressed their interest to participate in one or another swap.
Moreover, a verbal report was provided on the implementation of the SecureHospitalsand the EUinAidEuropean-funded projects. Finally, the JOIN Board started preparing the AGM 2019 in Zurich.