ST JOHN WALES BEHIND THE DERBY SCENES

Football fans will get a behind the scenes look at what St John Wales volunteers deal with while keeping spectators safe at Premier League football.

 

The charity’s volunteers will take over the organisation’s social media channels this weekend, when Cardiff City play Swansea City.

 

Around 27,000 supporters are expected at the Cardiff City Stadium on Sunday 3 November for the teams’ first meeting in the premier league. 25 St John Wales volunteers will be giving up their free time to provide first aid for anyone at the game that might need it.

 

To show what the volunteers often have to deal with at these events, St John Wales will be using social media channels Twitter and Facebook to post pictures, videos and details of any incidents during the game.

 

James Shaughnessy, St John Wales’ Director of Operations said: “Local derby games are very exciting and passionate and that can often bring challenges for our volunteers.

 

“We provide first aid cover at both Cardiff City and Swansea City home games and regularly deal with incidents ranging from cuts and bruises to heart attacks and strokes. For example, last season our volunteers were able to attend to a Cardiff City supporter who had had a cardiac arrest during a game. They gave him a number of shocks with a defibrillator before taking him to hospital. Luckily he went on to make a full recovery, but if St John Wales hadn’t been there, the outcome could have been very different.

 

“We have almost 4,500 followers on Twitter and Facebook and we hope that by giving our volunteers the opportunity to takeover our social media channels, we’ll be able to show what goes on behind the scenes.”

 

Each year, St John Wales’s 4,600 volunteers dedicate around 200,000 hours of their time to helping others.

 

 

To find out more about becoming at St John Wales volunteer, or to donate to the charity visit www.stjohnwales.org.uk.