We currently have two opportunities to join the Charity team.
Community Fundraising Officer
Hours: Full time
Salary: Band 5 (£28,407 – £34,581 per annum)
Location: Hybrid Working (home/Thame)
Closing date: September 17th
The Charity is ambitious to grow the support it can give SCAS in funding projects, equipment and programmes that are not funded by the NHS. The role of Community Fundraising Officer is key to us achieving this by raising unrestricted funds through an engaging community fundraising programme.
The role of Community Fundraising Officer is an important link between the NHS charity, the communities we support and our large cohort of over 1000 volunteers. The Community Fundraising Officer for the Charity will be expected to actively support the current strategy to raise funds for the Charity’s key objectives and to support our communications plan both internally and externally.
SCAS Charity is now looking for a highly motivated and enthusiastic individual to join the team on a full-time basis. The successful applicant will be a valuable member of the SCAS Finance Team reporting directly to the Deputy Chief Finance Officer as well as key member of the Charity team.
A positive and proactive and committed approach is essential, including the ability to analyse, innovate and manage a heavy and changing workload against tight deadlines.
The position requires contact with internal/external stakeholders such as suppliers, non-Executives, fund holders, cashiers, solicitors, online giving organisations, HMRC, procurement team and clinical staff.
In February 2023 Rachel joined South Central Ambulance Charity as a Community First Responder in High Wycombe.
After completing her training she needed to find a buddy to help her in those first few shifts. Simon stepped forward and met Rachel in one of our Direct Response Vehicles (DRV) to show her the ropes.
Fast forward 6 months and Rachel and Simon can still be found to responding together as a team but also spend time socialising away from their time with South Central Ambulance Charity.
Simon said they have become firm friends “I think it takes a certain type of person to become a CFR, and with that common ground, it’s hard not to get along with your CFR scheme members”
When Caite became a CFR in 2021 her main goal was to share the compassion and patience she had developed with her grandfather who suffered with Dementia.
Our CFRs are placed within a scheme within their community and as part of their induction and training they will go out on buddy shifts and its these connections where we first see friendships grow.
For Caite she was placed with Vicki – “I know from experience how nerve racking it was after qualifying and wanted to support Caite (and later Jenna) to build their confidence in responding to calls in the first few weeks”.
That support, and the ongoing support and friendship, from Vicki really helped Caite build her own confidence as she became more settled into her new volunteering role.
Jenna became a CFR in late 2022 as she had always considered becoming a paramedic and desperately wanted to make a difference in her community.
She was partnered with both Caite and Vicki to do those initial buddy shifts.
Jenna said, “Both of them have been a fantastic support in every situation and any questions any of us have, there’s always an answer between the 3 of us!”
Now the three of them can be found doing shifts together, training together or just catching up in their own spare time.
When Caite joined she had one goal – to help people, the friendships she has gained are the added extra “I am so lucky to say I have made amazing friends from my volunteering work. Not just Vicki and Jenna but I am friends with my cohort team and all the other training buddies I have met along the way.”
A South Central Ambulance Charity volunteer from High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire has been honoured by Their Royal Highnesses The Prince and Princess of Wales at a very special NHS Big Tea party, marking the 75th anniversary of the NHS (Wednesday 5th July).
Robin Mugridge, 54, started volunteering at the age of seven and today is a volunteer Community First Responder for South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust. Having been trained by paramedics, Robin attends critical incidents to initiate patient care prior to the arrival of an ambulance and provides emergency treatment when every second counts.
Hosted by NHS Charities Together – the national charity caring for the NHS, of which Their Royal Highnesses are Patrons – and television presenter Mel Giedroyc, the event was attended by members of the workforce and patients representing myriad achievements of the NHS and NHS charities over the last 75 years. It was held in the wellbeing garden of St Thomas’ Hospital in London – a wellbeing initiative funded by Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity.
Robin’s role has been supported by funding from NHS Charities Together, who fund some of the equipment volunteers use to help patients when every second counts, and he says that the feeling you get when you save a life is next to none.
Robin said: “Today has been a wonderful occasion with glorious weather, lovely cake and with some very special guests! It was an honour to be able to discuss my role, because I’m so proud of being part of a team that helps to save lives – it doesn’t get much better than that. Charitable fundraising is critical to our role, and we wouldn’t exist without it, because the NHS doesn’t get any core funding for Community First Responders. The support from NHS Charities Together has been invaluable to our charity to help fund this vital service.”
Other guests The Prince and Princess met with included Aneira Thomas, the first baby born on the NHS, to pioneers in research and those on the frontline tackling Covid-19. The guest list honoured staff past and present, including three generations of NHS workers from one family – inspired by grandmother and former nurse of nearly 50 years, Blanche Hines, who was part of the Windrush generation.
A surprise visit for those invited, The Prince and Princess even arrived early to help lay the tables and put finishing touches on a birthday cake. Their Royal Highnesses discussed current challenges and thanked staff for the work they continue to do, and – in the spirit of the tea party – even attempted to settle the long-standing scone debate regarding jam or cream first, with The Princess voting for jam, and Prince William preferring whatever is closest. They concluded their visit with a video message for the entire NHS: “Wishing everyone a very happy 75th birthday for the NHS. Thank you so much for all you do.”
Ellie Orton OBE, Chief Executive of NHS Charities Together, said: “We want to say a huge thank you to our Royal Patrons, and everyone who’s helped celebrate the 75th anniversary of our beloved NHS this year. As the national charity caring for the NHS, NHS Charities Together is here for anyone who wants to give something back to its people, who all give so much to us, and that extra support has never been so important. It includes providing staff psychologists, counselling, peer support training and so much more.
“It’s not too late to arrange your own NHS Big Tea party and raise vital funds to support NHS charities – find out how you can get involved at nhscharitiestogether.co.uk.”
Eurovision and former Great-British Bake Off presenter Mel Giedroyc was the host for the event on behalf of NHS Charities Together, and said: “The NHS is part of our DNA in this country so it was an utter privilege to be involved in this NHS Big Tea surprise to celebrate 75 years of the NHS and NHS charities. People were so delighted and it was just a quintessentially lovely, British day, celebrating our health service that we all love so much. I hope we will continue to love and take care of it for the next 750 years, because it’s something truly precious – and what would we do without it? I have it to thank for my hernia operations!”
The Prince and Princess of Wales became Royal Patrons for NHS Charities Together in December 2020, during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Since then, their support for the charity has helped to shine a light on the incredible and ongoing contribution of the NHS workforce and the role of NHS charities in helping the NHS go further for everyone.
Now entering its sixth year, the NHS Big Tea brings the nation together to celebrate the NHS and raise funds to provide the extra support needed for staff, patients, and volunteers. All funds raised from the NHS Big Tea contribute to key projects supporting the incredible NHS workforce, the long-term recovery of the NHS following Covid-19, and projects improving care for patients and communities.
To find out more about the work of NHS charities, or how you can host your own NHS Big Tea event pack, please visit www.nhscharitiestogether.co.uk
Congratulations to our 120 Buckinghamshire Community First Responders (CFR) and our local Co-Responders who have been shortlisted for the Community Group Award at this years BBC Three Counties Make a Difference Awards.
The Community Group Award recognises a group of people who have helped to genuinely change the lives of others within the community – and this certainly encompasses our CFRs.
In the last 12 months our Buckinghamshire Responders have volunteered 38,828 hours in responding time alone. The CFR programme is fully funded by South Central Ambulance Charity, and therefore as part of their volunteering commitment they also support the charity with fundraising by attending local events, and also giving community talks to increase the understanding and knowledge of their own role and the charity.
SCAS and the Charity want to educate people in CPR and increase defibrillator understanding and use, and as a result the CFRs will also be out in their communities teaching these skills so that members of the public can react to an emergency if required.
We are very grateful for all the Buckinghamshire Responders do and we know that they are well known within their local communities and the incredible volunteering role they do. Good Luck to them in September when they attend the awards ceremony.
People have many different reasons to volunteer with us – from wanting to give something back to the NHS or because they have been inspired when meeting some of our volunteers at events. However for many volunteers it allows them to add additional skills and experience to their CV’s in preparation for job searching – and this is especially true for our CFRs who are studying for a range of medical degrees at local universities.
In West Hampshire there is an active team of around 20 medical and nursing students from University of Southampton who are trained as CFRs. Being able to respond around their studies allows them to experience pre-hospital emergency medicine first hand, and their CFR skills are transferable to their medical studies.
Medical and nursing students are taught the value of taking a “social history” from every patient, and volunteering with SCAS gives them a better understanding of patients diverse support networks, living conditions and an understanding of the work of Ambulance Trusts and the care patients receive before attending hospitals.
James Brew, CFR Coordinator for Hampshire Medical Students, said “As a scheme we are looking forward to recruiting and mentoring a new intake of 10 medical and nursing students who are current Year 1 / 2 at University of Southampton very soon. We enjoy engaging with potential new student CFRs and explaining the merits that this volunteering opportunity has for all involved.”
If you are a University Student and would like to find out if we have a scheme at your University please send an email to info@sca-charity.org.uk
In November 2022, several Community First Responders (CFR) from Buckinghamshire supported “Safe Drive Stay Alive” in High Wycombe and Milton Keynes.
“Safe Drive Stay Alive” is a hard hitting educational piece that is delivered to 2000 teenagers per show. Its aim is to raise their awareness of the dangers and possible long term outcomes of reckless driving and/or driving whilst under the influence. Powerful videos, live testimony from emergency services personnel, survivors, bereaved parents, barristers and prison inmates all serve to demonstrate how one, seemingly, simple choice made when getting behind the wheel of a car can have devastating, life-changing consequences.
Due to the hard hitting impact of the show some members of the audience do need to leave the auditorium and that is when our CFR team are ready to step in. Some of the audience needed time out and an opportunity to chat through what they had witnessed and others required treatment for fainting, nausea and dizziness.
Simon Everitt, CFR in High Wycombe, had the privilege of being one of our team at these shows and said “As a new CFR, it was a privilege to work with my colleagues to help ensure that everyone is properly looked after and then returned to their school cohort once fully recovered. I hope that this well put together work will influence future behaviours and will lead to lives being saved in the future”
South Central Ambulance Charity is in the running for this year’s ‘Brand The Bus’ competition hosted by Oxford Bus Company and supported by by Jack FM.
The top prize is a £50,000 package deal consisting of £20,000 worth of advertising with JACKfm and £30,000 worth of advertising with Oxford Bus Company.
This includes a branded double decker bus with all our livery displayed for a year, travelling across Oxfordshire AND 12 months of airtime on JACKfm, JACK 2, JACK 3 and website advertising. As a small charity, the awareness opportunity for us is huge and this will help us to help you.
Your vote could be the one that makes all the difference. Please vote for us (Number 67 -towards the bottom) https://bit.ly/3OzAG1W
If the charity is successful it will provide an immediate platform to showcase the work of the charity and how the projects and equipment we fund enhances the patient care SCAS is able to provide.
It is also an opportunity for the people of Oxford to learn more about SCAS as its local ambulance service.
We need as many votes as possible before midnight on the closing date January 1st 2023 to make the shortlist and have the opportunity to present to a panel of judges who will then choose the overall winner.
Please share wide and far – you don’t need to live in Oxford to vote 😊
Thank you in advance, The South Central Ambulance Charity team
Staff and volunteers from South Central Ambulance Charity and South Central Ambulance Trust NHS Foundation Trust (SCAS) were nominated for the Helpforce Champions Awards 2022 and we were pleased to attend the Awards Ceremony with two of our finalists. Finalists came together from across the UK to showcase the impact volunteers have had on the NHS over the last 12 months.
Jack Ansell, Operations Manager, Community Engagement Team was nominated in the Volunteer to Career – Volunteer of the Year category. Jack started his career by volunteering as one of the first Community First Responders, and as a volunteer with St. John Ambulance and after completing the Student Paramedic degree he has continued to respond both in a voluntary capacity and also professionally.
Jack not only now works in the Community Engagement Team to engage and train new Community First Responders he was one of the founders of the British Association for Immediate Care Schemes (BASICS) team at SCAS which was officially started in 2020. The SCAS BASICs team is made up of Nurses & Paramedics with enhanced clinical skills who volunteer outside of their working role.
His story grabbed the judges attention and he was named the winner at the Awards Ceremony.
Jack said of his award “My nomination and win is a complete shock. I have always enjoyed responding to emergencies and being able to help people in my local community. My time as a volunteer early in my career helped me cement my passion and understanding of the service and this is something I continue to strive to achieve today with our current Community First Responders.”
In addition to Jack’s win Nic Dunbar, Head of Operations, Community Engagement and Training Team, was Highly Commended in the Health Leader Champion for Volunteering category.
Nic has been an advocate for volunteers throughout SCAS, not only leading the Community First Responders to take on further operational duties – such as responding to non-injury falls – but was also involved with the development of the Volunteering Strategy and introduction the Welfare Vehicles and Volunteers as a response to Covid.
Vanessa Casey, CEO of South Central Ambulance Charity “We continue to see the impact all of our volunteers have across SCAS. Our growing number of CFRs, Welfare and Car Drivers demonstrate that people continue to be eager to volunteer with us and help support their local communities and recognise the work our staff do. Congratulations to Jack and Nic, but also well done to all those other volunteers and staff members who were nominated. Thank you to all our volunteers to continue to provide such an important resource for the ambulance service.”
Other nominations made to Helpforce Champions Awards 2022 included
Ben Taylor (PTS) – Volunteer Manager of the Year
Nick Tappin (Welfare Volunteer) – Volunteer of the Year: England
Jamie Todd (BASICS) – Volunteer of the Year : England
Kevin Wilson (Volunteer Car Driver) – Volunteer of the Year: England
South Central Ambulance Charity’s “game changing” fleet of Dynamic Response Vehicles (DRVs) has helped volunteer Community First Responders (CFRs) arrive ‘first on scene’ to provide emergency medical assistance at almost 7,000 incidents over the past year.
The Charity funded the purchase of 40 Dacia Dusters in 2020, with the range of 4×2 and 4×4 vehicles clocking up more than 120,000 hours as dedicated DRVs since then.
CFRs are members of the public trained to support South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SCAS) primarily by responding to medical emergencies and sometimes providing life-saving first aid to patients before paramedics arrive.
The 1,200-strong team also assist with ongoing patient care at the scene and operate across Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Hampshire. They are funded solely by South Central Ambulance Charity, which provides equipment, training and is responsible for the entire CFR vehicle fleet. Due to the locality of volunteers, they often arrive before an ambulance to many 999 calls, with the CFR able to administer potentially life-saving pre-hospital treatment.
Over the past year, the Dusters have attended 1,130 ‘Category 1’ calls to treat people with life-threatening illnesses or injuries, such as cardiac arrest, while 5,218 ‘Category 2’ emergency calls were attended where people had breathing difficulties or stroke and heart attack symptoms. The fully liveried vehicles replaced several ageing cars of different makes and models that required constant attention to deliver the level of reliability that the role of a DRV demands.
The Charity specified 13 of its Dusters with 4×4, designed to help CFRs reach patients in harder to access rural environments and comfortably negotiate more hilly urban areas in wintry conditions.
Vanessa Casey, Chief Executive of South Central Ambulance Charity, said: “The Duster has been an excellent choice for community responding. It has met our expectations in terms of suitability for the role, having all the space we need and being 100 per cent reliable. “The 4×4 versions have provided reassurance to our volunteers in reaching patients in more remote areas, such as bridal footpaths and rough tracks, where a normal car may have struggled. Feedback from our Community First Responders has been very complimentary.
“Some were a little sceptical at first, but they have all been won over by the Duster’s capability and specification, agreeing that they’ve been a real game changer in terms of patient care and raising the profile and visibility of the service that we deliver.
“Having the Dacia Duster fleet has really helped demonstrate the professionalism of our service and tells the public straightaway that they’re seeing a first responder. What’s more, we’ve also been able to attend events with the vehicles and their presence has helped us to attract even more volunteers.”
Luke Broad, Dacia Brand Director for the UK, said: “I’m really proud to see how the Dusters have helped South Central Ambulance Charity carry out invaluable work in and around the local community. “The Duster’s rugged and robust qualities are providing volunteers with the peace-of-mind they need to deliver potentially life-saving care, regardless of the conditions. South Central Ambulance Charity’s experience perfectly illustrates all what the Duster has to offer.”
