Hey everyone! My name is Amelia and I’m delighted to have been awarded this year’s ‘National Cadet of the Year’. 

I thought that it would be great for you to get to know me before I start my term working with all of you!

I’m immensely proud of my achievements during my time at St. John Cymru so far and I have no doubt that I will continue to thrive and grow as a person as my time here progresses. I started one of the greatest journeys of my life so far 11 years ago, when I joined St John Cymru. It was a family tradition to join the local Badger division and, with encouragement from my family, that’s just what I did. I followed my elder cousins and siblings and joined the division I would one day call my second family – Griffithstown.

I had a huge confidence boost when I achieved my ‘Super Badger’ award. It felt amazing to be appreciated for all the hard work myself and other Badgers across Wales had done – the Bertie Badger ornament I was awarded was adorable too!

A few years after, I joined Cadets where I was introduced to first aid competitions. Since then, I have been competing for three years – I’m so glad I decided to try something new, as at the time, I had no idea I would love competing so much!

In this time, I have been fortunate enough to have won the Welsh first aid competition finals, held by St John Cymru, for two years in a row. My teammates and I cannot be more thankful for the opportunity to compete.

As well as achieving these titles and trophies, another big achievement for me is my personal confidence – it’s grown so much over the past few years. I believe it’s all down to the encouragement of my divisional leaders and the personal qualities competing has brought out of me. I just wanted to take the time to say thank you to all of those who have encouraged and supported me so far.

I feel as though competing has brought out a lot of skills which I can now impliment into my division – most notably leadership, communication and teamwork skills. It is thanks to these skills I was able to sustain the position  ‘Sergeant’ at my division and achieve my ‘Grand Prior Award’ this summer. All the hard work paid off!

Having gained these personal qualities, I’ve now got a lot more confidence in my own abilities and it’s this confidence which helped inspire me to apply for ‘Cadet of the Year’.

At first, I was sceptical because it was something new, but I am so glad I went through with it! It helped me meet lots of new friends which I regularly keep in contact with and, if I’m honest, having won still hasn’t quite sunk in yet!

For me, I’m so proud of my development and I definitely want to implement something to connect all youth divisions during my term as Cadet of the Year. I want to be able to help Cadets develop – just like I did.

As well as this, I’d really like to encourage Cadets to try new things; first aid competitions for example, as they could reap so many benefits. Plus, you’ll never know unless you try! 

I am extremely excited to start my term and I hope to get involved in as many things as possible. I know the ‘Deputy Cadet of The Year’ Rhys, is also just as excited as I am!

We hope to see you all soon,

Amelia 

Share Your Story

Got a story you’d like to share? We’re looking for even more of your incredible stories of St John Cymru Wales to celebrate 100 years of being there and we’d love to hear from you.

Are you a first aider? Did you receive first-aid? Or do you know someone who performed first aid after attending training? Get in touch! 

Share your story at www.stjohn.wales/100/en/page/share-your-story