IF YOU suffered an injury, you could always rely on these girls to help you.

Putting an arm in a sling or strapping a broken leg was all part of a day’s work for them.

They were members of the St John Ambulance nursing cadet division at Abingdon.

The celebration took place in 1979 after they came top in the county and regional rounds of a first aid and home nursing competition.

The girls, aged between 12 and 15, and pictured left and centre with their trophies, were Joanna Crockett, Lorraine Osborne, Sally Woodcock, Fiona Green and Anne Hobday.

They are being toasted by the mayor of Abingdon, Ewart Hemmings, and senior officials from the St John Abingdon division.

The girls won the cup in the Oxfordshire round, then triumphed in the regional round, beating five other counties to the trophy.

They took part in team first aid tests and individual nursing tests.

Their victory in the regional round gave them a place in the national final in London later in the year.

Glynnis Beckett, the divisional superintendent, said: “It is the first time we have got through to the national final. The girls have worked very hard and done very well.”

They were following in the footsteps of thousands of others who have supported the volunteer-led organisation dedicated to teaching and practising first aid for more than a century.

In the 19th century, as the industrial revolution gathered pace, there were many dangerous workplaces in Britain.

Accidents were frequent, with death or disability from untreated injuries common.

Members of the Order of St John decided to train ordinary people in first aid so that accident victims could be treated quickly and on the spot and, in 1877, they set up St John Ambulance.

Classes were held across the country, particularly in workplaces and areas of heavy industry but also in villages, seaside towns and middle class suburbs.

In 1887, trained volunteers were organised into a uniformed brigade to provide a first aid and ambulance service at public events.

Today, volunteers and employees continue to attend thousands of events every year, providing first aid to the sick and injured.

It has more than 23,000 adult members and nearly 20,000 young members, it trains more than half a million people each year in first aid and health and safety and provides treatment and care to some 125,000 patients.

Can anyone tell us how the Abingdon girls fared in the final of the competition?

Memory Lane this week

 

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