Firm Hands Out Prizes To Winning Teams

Lawyers from Irwin Mitchell’s Bristol office recognised youngsters for their life saving skills over the weekend at the St John Ambulance safety competition.

The firm handed out prizes to Badgers, young members aged five to 10, and Cadets, aged 10 to 17, on Saturday (8 December) who took part in 16 different challenges to help them face everyday situations that could present a danger.

Challenges included how to deal with the danger of train tracks and dangers in the garden, kitchen, bathroom, car and shops. The police ran a challenge about internet safety and the Fire Service demonstrated different scenarios, including giving a chip pan fire demonstration so the youngsters could learn how to deal with this kind of emergency.

Funding from the police and Irwin Mitchell allowed the St John Ambulance youth team to hold the event, which ran from 10am to 3pm, at the Create Centre in Bristol.

Police officers and St John Ambulance leaders judged the 16 challenges and the charity’s Malcolm Doody and Darren Gregory counted up the results.

Anusheh Ahmadi, a serious injury expert at Irwin Mitchell presented prizes to the winning Cadet Division- Youth Safety Challenge and winning Badger Division - Youth Safety Challenge.

She said: “St John Ambulance does a fantastic job training young people in the basic life skills to help keep them safe and also to deliver first aid and help others who may need assistance.

“The challenges were a fun, hands-on way to teach them these skills and I was proud to present the awards to the winning Cadet and Badger team.

“Irwin Mitchell is committed to being a socially responsible organisation and encourages its staff to take part in a variety of projects as part of a comprehensive community programme, that includes raising attainment in schools, supporting vulnerable groups and offering pro bono support to those who need it the most.”

Michelle Chatham, Youth Development Officer at St John Ambulance, said: “The event was about getting our young members to face everyday situations that could present a danger. The competition is designed to give real life, hands on situations which will give our young members the opportunity to think about how they would handle incidents and dangerous occurrences.

“This will help them to develop the skills and knowledge about how to approach situations in the real world, especially when they start to attend first aid duties.

“We would like to thank the police and Irwin Mitchell for their support, which was vital in making the competition happen.”

St John Ambulance works with children aged five to 10 through their Badger Setts and with young people aged 10 to 17 through Cadet Units.

They learn first aid as well as other activities to help them develop their social awareness and to make a difference between a life lost and a life saved.