JOINews December


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Monthly Newsletter

December 2021

News from the Network

Online meeting of the JOIN Board

On 13th December, the new JOIN Board, elected at the last Annual General Meeting, met online to discuss the latest developments. The priorities for the next two years were the first topic addressed, as well as the unpredictability of the situation resulting from the persistence of the pandemic. The Board decided to further investigate the recruitment of new member organisations. Continue reading

JOIN members at the forefront of the COVID-19 pandemic

With the persistence of the pandemic situation, our members continue to relentlessly face the situations in their counties. In England, the uptake of COVID-19 booster jabs expanded the demand for St John Ambulance's team of vaccination volunteers. The appeal for more vaccination volunteers resulted in a 200% increase in activity in the week of 13th December, with almost 24,000 hours delivered. JOIN members work at the frontline of COVID-19 in hospitals, on ambulances, helicopters, in centres and accommodations, ever since the start of the pandemic. Read more about the support of our members here.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Our Chairman Mark Broughton, the entire Board and the Office of Johanniter International in Brussels wish all of you a peaceful and blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year 2022! We have been confronted with various new challenges in many ways and, despite all difficult conditions, grown stronger and more creative together. We are grateful to all JOIN members for the continuous excellent cooperation this year. We look forward to the new year to continue our successful work together with the entire JOIN family.

News from the Volunteer Swap

Four German volunteers at the London Marathon

In October, four members of the Johanniter Berlin Cycle Response Unit supported their colleagues at the London Marathon in the frame of the Volunteer Swap programme. After a break of over two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the volunteers from Berlin participated in their first international outreach. Their report of the event is now published. Together with their English colleagues, the volunteers operated 36 bicycles and ensured the safety of over 42,000 runners on the route from Greenwich to Buckingham Palace. Continue reading

News from the members

Austria: Federal President thanks Johanniter volunteers

On 2nd December, Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen visited volunteers of Johanniter in Vienna to thank them for their commitment. During the pandemic, the volunteers help with testing and vaccination, as well as in the rescue service. The Federal President learned about the history of Johanniter, the cooperation of the rescue organisations and also paid a visit to the staff of the headquarters' operations center. Read more (in German) here.

England: St John Ambulance calls volunteers to support booster programme

The increased pace of COVID-19 booster jabs means expanded demand for St John Ambulance's team of vaccination volunteers, and the charity is calling on every trained vaccinator to engage. Since the start of January, volunteers of our English member have delivered millions of COVID-19 and flu vaccinations through 850,000 hours of volunteering. The appeal for more vaccination volunteers to step forward resulted in a 200% increase in activity in the following week, with almost 24,000 hours delivered. People are booking shifts in advance for the festive season, including volunteers vaccinating on Christmas Day. Continue reading

England: over 4,900 people trained in Mental Health First Aid Courses

Looking back on the year so far, our English member has trained more than 4,900 people to take action and respond to their friends' and colleagues' mental health needs. St John Ambulance has offered one-hour long webinars on mental health, one and two-day courses on Workplace Mental Health First Aid, Refresher Courses, Supportive Conversation Courses for managers and Youth Mental Health First Aid Courses. All these initiatives offer helpful tips and resources on how to improve one's own wellbeing and support friends, colleagues or family. Among the topics covered are tools to reduce stress, how to spot when you or a colleague may need support, tips on coping with change and adversity, etc. Mental health first aid training delivers a practical approach based on real-life scenarios. Read more about their training courses here.

France: publication of the Bulletin de Saint-Jean 2020-2021

The Association des Oeuvres de Saint-Jean has published its yearly 'Bulletin de Saint-Jean'. The main project of our French JOIN member in 2021 was the opening of a hostel in Montpellier. In the course of 2020, 7,800 parents, out-patients and day-patients were accommodated in nine different hostels across the country. Other activities continued despite the pandemic, such as supporting students from disadvantaged backgrounds and the running of a clinic and a care centre in Madagascar. Read the Bulletin de Saint-Jean here (in French).

Germany: Johanniter Competence Center GmbH renamed 'Johanniter HealthCare-IT Solutions'

The Johanniter Competence Center is one of the leading IT service providers in the German healthcare sector. With its core competences in customer service, IT service management, project and consulting services and strategic purchasing, it has been providing IT support in hospitals, care and nursing facilities, as well as service companies of the Johanniter association. For more than ten years, Johanniter Competence Center GmbH has been able to build up a strong partnership, particularly in the area of healthcare IT services. This is now to be reflected in the new company name 'Johanniter HealthCare-IT Solutions', which will be official on 1st January 2022. The new name is the consequence of Johanniter's mission to find solutions, to design appropriate HealthCare-IT strategies and to build bridges for the digital transformation in the healthcare sector.

Malta: St John Rescue Corps appointed as member of National Order of Merit

On 13th December, Malta's Republic Day, St John Rescue Corps was appointed as a member of the National Order of Merit. During the COVID-19 pandemic, St John Rescue Corps was at the forefront with the provision of logistical services, which enabled essential services provided by local food banks to continue uninterrupted. During the investiture ceremony at the Palace in Valletta, Commissioner and Corps Commander Andrew Grech and Deputy Commissioner Christopher Borg Cardona received the honours for the Rescue Corps awarded by the President of Malta, Dr George Vella. Continue reading

News from Europe

Launch of the Union Civil Protection Knowledge Network

The Union Civil Protection Knowledge Network was officially launched on 7th December. Its third newsletter includes -amongst others- information on the structure and way of operation of the network and the Disaster Risk Management Knowledge Centre as the foundation of the network. It also details the latest civil protection exercises and contains upcoming events, new learning opportunities and resources.

European Projects

MED1stMR consortium meeting in Zurich

From 15th to 16th December, the consortium of MED1stMR came together for its first in-person meeting in Zurich. Representatives from all partner organisations got together online and on-site due to the hybrid nature of the meeting. Johanniter Austria and Johanniter International were present with three delegates. The aim of the first day was to give an overview of the current status of the work packages that have already started. At the Fusion Arena Virtual Reality Center, the participants could try out the training system, co-creation tool for collaborative scenario creation, sensors and other virtual reality applications. Continue reading

Johanniter International

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