Image: Matt at St John Ambulance’s Everyday Heroes awards after being awarded 'National Volunteer of The Year', 2018
Additionally, Matt is also currently the charity’s National Youth Event Involvement Lead, responsible for youth volunteering across England. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he has also been assisting with St John Ambulance’s involvement with the Cadets, aged 14 and upwards, in their support of the NHS’s rollout of their vaccination programme. So far, the charity have trained more than 30,000 volunteers to help deliver the programme, and while the younger volunteers are not administering the vaccine, Matt helped to ensure they have been able to support the cause by undertaking logistical tasks, such as packing boxes of supplies in warehouses and supporting patients in vaccination centres.
At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Matt was also the Duty Delivery Manager for London and South East England, which saw him coordinate, manage and problem-solve all of St John Ambulance deployments across the region in support of the NHS’s 999-frontline.
Volunteering with St John Ambulance is an incredible experience. You learn life-saving skills that you’ll never forget, and you get to share those with the community in training, at small local events, as well as some pretty fantastic large-scale events. The highlight for me, every time, is seeing how youngsters develop as they learn and grow – starting as quiet and shy, and then transforming into highly skilled, confident and capable young people.
Matt’s role and experiences throughout his career at Collinson, such as people management skills, have been key to aiding his volunteer roles. And with the help of Collinson in allowing for the balance of his volunteering ventures alongside his busy full-time job, Matt has received multiple honours for his service to the community.
In 2018, he was awarded National Volunteer of The Year at St John Ambulance’s Everyday Heroes awards in the Volunteer Manager of the Year category, for his first aid work around Newham. The following year he was invited to a Buckingham Palace Garden Party, a yearly event hosted by Her Majesty The Queen, with invites extended to notable charity workers and volunteers. Most recently, in 2020 he was honoured with the admission to the Order of St John, a British royal order of chivalry constituted in 1888 by royal charter, in recognition of his extraordinary dedication, service and commitment to the charity. Matt was invested into the order with the approval of its Sovereign Head, Her Majesty The Queen.
Hear from Matt himself about what it means to be a Youth Team Volunteer with St John Ambulance:
If you would like to learn more about how to become a volunteer and the types of roles available, visit here.
