CHATTER BOX Your fortnightly bulletin for SaTH colleagues and events Friday 26 May 2023
Golden opportunity for Tom Inspirational Tom Tanner, a Healthcare Assistant in ED, had a date with royalty when he attended the Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s (DofE) Award ceremony in Buckingham Palace Garden. Tom joined 20 other St John Ambulance youth volunteers for the event – he has been a volunteer with the charity since he was a small child. He successfully achieved an assisted Gold last summer in the heatwave
in the Forest of Dean.
the longer distances.
from a DofE grant.
Tom said: “I have a physical disability and haven’t been able to follow my dream of joining the RAF as a pilot, but being in St John has helped me realise that I can do other things. I have pushed myself, especially doing my Gold DofE last year, with no one else that I knew, in the middle of nowhere, in a heatwave. I overcame the challenges of walking distances; I used my crutches and also had the use of an all-terrain wheelchair for
He added, “I thoroughly enjoy working with St John under 18 volunteers, badgers and cadets and my dream is to be a children’s nurse. I have also just become the unit DofE leader. I want to prove to others that having a disability doesn’t mean you can’t do things. You can.”
Tom is a Youth Leader in the Market Drayton Unit. His mum, Teresa, Lead Nurse for Safeguarding Children & Young People is the Unit Manager.
National DofE Manager at St John Ambulance, Richard Salter was key in supporting Tom by finding Tom a reduced mobility expedition to complete and funding
Teresa said: “We are so incredibly proud of what Tom has achieved, and for those who know us as a family know exactly how far Tom has come to achieve this award.” Well done Tom!