ST JOHN AMBULANCE volunteers in St Ives have become embroiled in a bitter war of words with their own organisation that could see the town's dedicated lifesavers resign en masse.
The St Ives group has reportedly threatened to fold after years of service to the community in a row over training facilities.
Paid managers in charge of the widely respected charity's South West region have in turn told the group – in a letter sent to even the youngest individual St John volunteer – to leave if they want.
Now St Ives MP Andrew George has stepped in, issuing a stinging rebuke to managers at St John's Exeter regional office. In a letter to the region's logistics and facilities manager, Mr George accuses the regional hierarchy at the charity – formerly run at Cornwall level – of being "high-handed and dismissive".
The row centres around the condemning of the St Ives division's old headquarters, the St John Ambulance Hall in St Andrews Street, despite the group raising £13,000 to save it. An alternative venue, the town's Old Lifeguard Station, was then rejected by managers because of a contractual wrangle with Cornwall Council.
Bosses in Exeter now want the group to use a church hall at St John in the Field – a move St Ives volunteers have vehemently refused.
In a letter to every member of the St Ives Division, logistics and facilities manager Michael Neve wrote: "I have been advised by Mr Phil Lander [head of the St Ives group] that if the unit cannot meet at the Old Lifeguard Station then the unit will close. I would ask you all to consider why it is that you volunteer for St John Ambulance. Do you volunteer to train in a particular building or do you volunteer in order to deliver first aid and be the difference between a life saved and a life lost?"
In a line that has deeply upset division volunteers, the letter then says: "If you, as an individual, decide that you no longer wish to offer your services to St John Ambulance that is your decision. Please be clear that this is NOT because you have nowhere to train."
The volunteers meet each week to train in lifesaving first aid skills and then provide free safety cover to community and sporting events.
Local volunteers – and Mr George – have asked managers to resume negotiations with Cornwall Council over a lease for the Lifeguard Station, but the regional HQ says the church hall at St John in the Field is a take-it-or-leave-it option, despite locals raising concerns over the suitability of the venue and safety of the approach road to it for young volunteers walking there in the dark, and suggesting its cost has been underestimated.
Mr George, who has asked for reassurances that the £13,000 raised in and for St Ives will be used to benefit the town, has said the town's volunteers are being treated badly.
In his letter to managers, he said the division's "enthusiasm, pride and commitment ... appear to have been significantly undermined by what seems to be a new hierarchical culture".
Steve Hargreaves, St John Ambulance's South West regional director, said: "We share the frustrations of our volunteers in St Ives but our previous facilities were not fit for purpose – even if money was spent on them – and we were faced with an urgent need to find new accommodation. Sadly, we have been unable to find new accommodation in the town centre."