Harriet Walton named St John Ambulance Cadet of the Year 2017

Harriet Walton named St John Ambulance Cadet of the Year 2017

Harriet Walton has been was named St John Ambulance National Cadet of the Year for 2017.

The 16-year-old Rochdale Sixth Form College triumphed in the two-day contest, which saw the best of the first aid charity’s young volunteers from across the country take part in tasks to win the title.

She will now represent St John Ambulance Cadets at a number of events across the country over the coming year.

She said: "I am so thrilled to be awarded the National Cadet of the Year 2017, and delighted to be bringing it back to the north.

"I have had a brilliant weekend and even being there with the top 30 cadets in the country was an honour.

"I can’t wait to see what the coming year brings.

"Thanks to everyone who has helped me along the way.’

The competition was held at Ingestre Hall in Stafford over the weekend of Saturday and Sunday (February 25 and 26).

Designed to stretch the cadets’ abilities, it included a wide range of subjects such as communication, team work, presentation, working with the media and social skills.

With thousands of cadets across the country, competitors in the weekend’s contest had already shown a high degree of excellence and competition was fierce.

Simon Dunn, regional director for St John Ambulance, said: "First aid is an important skill for people of all ages to learn, and we’re thrilled that one of our cadets from the north will be representing our young volunteers for the next year.

"Harriet demonstrated a clear understanding of the importance of first aid and will act as an excellent ambassador for St John Ambulance.

"Her support will help us to encourage more young people to learn some basic life saving skills and be the difference between a life lost and a life saved."

St John Ambulance Cadets are aged 10 to 17 and besides first aid they learn a huge range of other important life skills as they work towards their Grand Prior award – the highest award a cadet can achieve.

Subjects range from cookery and animal welfare to sports and photography. Older cadets can put their first aid and other communication skills into practice by providing first aid to the public at events or teaching first aid to other young people and adults.

St John Ambulance has over 26,000 youth volunteers in the country and believes that every young person should have the opportunity to make a real difference in their community; to speak out on what matters to them and to help others in need of support and development.

If you would like to know more about St John Ambulance’s youth programmes, or would like to join them, call 08700 10 49 50 or visit www.sja.org.uk/youth