St John Ambulance Australia SA Inc. Annual Report 2018-2019

St John Ambulance Australia SA Inc Annual Report 2018/19 9

CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S REPORT

As I step into the Interim Chief Executive Officer role, I would like to acknowledge and thank outgoing CEO Michael Cornish for his important contributions and leadership, which led St John SA into the strong position it is in today during his time with the organisation. Thank you Michael and we wish you all the very best. In order to assist with the day-to-day management of St John SA, I have taken leave from my position on the Board whilst a recruitment process is undertaken to secure a permanent CEO. Each and every member of the St John community has played a significant role in shaping the success of the last year. It is extremely pleasing to report that St John SA has finished the financial year ahead of budget for its third consecutive year. What is even more pleasing is that we have demonstrated continued financial growth, with revenue from commercial activities closing 9.3% ahead of budget and 10.2% ahead of last year. As a self-funded charity, we rely on our commercial arm to provide much of the resources required to sustain our charitable activities. It is a testament to the quality of our commercial training and products – and marketing thereof – that we have seen such success in this area. The end result for the financial year was a net surplus of $346,000, against a budgeted surplus of $7,000. With our steady financial growth in the past three years, we now have a collective net surplus of $1.8million, resulting in a 15.9% increase in organisational net assets over this same period. Given this strong financial position, we have been able to re- invest some of this into key elements of our strategic plan. To this end, work has continued on the metropolitan property strategy, with scoping and planning occurring at properties to be refurbished, and upgrades to the Woodville Centre on track to be completed early in the new financial year. Furthermore, a taskforce continues to tackle strategy around volunteer attraction and retention and the Youth Development Program. The Community Care program has also evolved in the last year, securing ongoing funding and enabling St John to continue to provide an excellent level of service. Our Community Care volunteers play an integral role in strengthening community wellbeing through the support and companionship they provide to 435 clients. In a St John SA first, an Emerging Leaders Symposium was established in conjunction with a Certificate IV in Leadership and Management, which was offered to members. The 6-month course was available to both volunteers and staff and allowed the participants to work on a project that was aligned closely to

key areas of our Strategic Plan, furthering their understanding of organisational goals and how they can contribute to their success. It has also been encouraging to see the developments taking place in our operations arm of the organisation. We were able to further increase our capacity to serve the community through first aid at events with the completion of nine Health Certificate Programs, which included additional Event Medic accreditations. Two of our regional divisions significantly boosted their operational capacity with 15 new Event Medics joining the Limestone Coast and Whyalla divisions. Furthermore, we were very pleased to see both the commercial and operational arms of the organisation perform extremely well in the 2018 National RTO audit. This highlights our commitment to delivering exceptional quality and standards across all of our products and services. Although the true impact of our volunteers far exceeds any dollar value, it is important to acknowledge that in the last financial year, our volunteers contributed a staggering $4,481,699 worth of volunteer hours. This highlights the level of commitment we see from our members who so selflessly give of their time for the benefit of the South Australian community, day in, day out. It is these exceptional people who represent St John SA and who are to thank for us once again being named in the top 5 most trusted charities in Australia. I am extremely proud of the level of service we provide in the community and for it being recognised on this national stage. Our fundraising efforts continued to grow in 2018/19 with our first ever ABC Gardener’s Market. This proved to be very successful and contributed to the procurement of new marquees for our volunteer divisions. We also held our third annual charity Golf Day, which has been growing year on year. Our last Golf Day enabled us to raise enough money to train another 3,000 South Australian primary school children in lifesaving first aid skills through our First Aid in Schools program. This is yet another example of how we continue to strengthen our mission and vision in the community. Other highlights of the 2018/19 calendar included our annual Awards Day in the beautiful grounds of Government House, once again officiated by His Excellency the Honourable Hieu Van Le, the Governor of South Australia and our Deputy Prior. It was a fantastic occasion to recognise and celebrate the outstanding contributions of so many members of the St John SA community. In June 2019 we also opened the doors of St John SA State Office to members and their families for an entertaining and insightful Open Day in conjunction with the

annual Rededication Service. The last year also marked a particularly momentous milestone for St John Australia-wide – 135 years of

service to the community. We honoured this occasion with a magnificent publication, exhibiting every facet of St John and its evolution throughout the last 135 years. The magazine was distributed via the Sunday Mail, showcasing our organisation across the state. We also continued to receive fantastic support from our corporate partners, including our 2018/19 Presenting Partners, Bendigo Bank and CMI Toyota. This support had far-reaching benefits and even allowed us to give away a brand new car to one lucky first aid training participant. We also continued our partnerships with the Australian Hotels Association SA, Clubs SA and OTR with even more installations of public access defibrillators in regional areas. We are incredibly grateful to all of our sponsors and partners who share in our mission and vision and contribute to saving lives in South Australia. As we reflect on the fruitful and fulfilling year just passed, we also look ahead to the challenges that await, as we strive to remain at the forefront of our industry in service and innovation. We are very fortunate as an organisation to be led by a Board of Directors with a vast array of expertise and knowledge, who will no doubt continue to lead St John SA into an even bigger and brighter 2019/20. The work we do and the successes we enjoy simply would not be possible without the hard work, enthusiasm, and devotion of all St John SA volunteers and staff. I thank you and commend you all on a terrific 2018/19 financial year and look forward with great anticipation to the opportunities that lay ahead in the coming year.

I am delighted to share that St John SA has yet again strengthened its position in the first aid market, both financially and in its exceptional level of service to the community in the 2018/19 financial year. This performance highlights the advancement of our mission and vision, which ultimately makes for a safer and more resilient South Australia.

Ray Creen Chief Executive Officer

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