Ambulance work has been part of Angela Rotherham-Watkins's family for as long as she can remember.
The Newmarket resident is a third-generation volunteer with St. John Ambulance, an international first-aid and emergency medical organization. Her mother and grandmother both served with the organization in England, and she has carried on this family tradition for 40 years.
That has involved providing first-aid teaching, mentoring young cadets and helping raise money for local food banks, alongside her husband, Stephen Watkins.
“I’ve always loved just going out and volunteering in the community,” she said. “I continued with it and went up the ranks and became the (Newmarket) unit chief.”
The duo has led Newmarket’s St. John Ambulance branch for years. Through their efforts, they have taught the community the first-aid and CPR training the organization is well known for.
Stephen Watkins said the skills they teach their young cadets are vital.
“We’re trying to teach them to become future leaders. It takes a team effort to achieve great things, which is what we teach our cadets,” he said.
The two have also been instrumental in leading the local Fill an Ambulance food drive campaign for the past several years. Watkins recounted he had seen a one-off version years ago and felt like it would be a good thing to do regularly with underused ambulance fleet assets.
Since 2019, St. John Ambulance has raised more than 48,000 pounds of food and almost $20,000 in donations to food banks in the local area.
“It’s slowly been expanding more and more, which I’m very grateful for,” Rotherham-Watkins said. “If we can use the assets that we have, and twice a year get out with the kids and provide public awareness for such an important cause, then why not?”
She added it is a community effort that makes it possible. But it is also another way to inspire youth.
“They see the huge community effort and everything come together and they see an impact,” she said. “It really demonstrates to them what they can do.”
Seeing the youth they mentor go on to take on fantastic careers is a wonderful thing, Rotherham-Watins said.
“That, to me, is the reward that I get out of it,” she said, “to see them accomplish such fantastic things for their life, and giving back.”
Over the years, Rotherham-Watkins has recorded more than 7,000 volunteer hours with the organization, while Watkins has logged more than 14,500.
“We don’t plan to stop volunteering and helping in our community anytime soon,” he said.
More information on the organization is available on its website.
