St. John Ambulance, in partnership with Be Pacific Digital Agency, is delighted to commence a new chapter in its story by unveiling a new website dedicated to their continuous commitment to Papua New Guinea’s ambulance services and the introduction of e-commerce, where its customers can carry out payments online.
St.John’s is heavily dependent on funding from the community and availing online payment will help generate much needed funds, due to the fact that St.John’s social enterprise helps them raise funds to subsidies any funding they get from the PNG Government, hence, the answer in the form of a new website.
“We are intending to add an e-commerce platform so our supporters can buy new first aid kits, restock their kits, or purchase ambulance membership each year. E-commerce is going to become more common in PNG especially as we see a savvy middle class expecting more quality online services.
We are even adding a donations page where people can make a donation to St John using their credit or debit card online,” said Matt Cannon, CEO, St. John Ambulance, PNG.
The website is crisp and very easy to navigate for our users, the site is also used for education and awareness purposes and we have made information very easy to access via the site. The fact sheets, in particular, purposely designed for referencing before and during a first aid emergency.
The only way to sustain a professional and reliable charity emergency ambulance service, according to Cannon, is to have a fundraising social enterprise arm. He said when people buy a first aid kit, or do a first aid course with St John, the money from these purchases is utilized in maintaining an effective and reliable ambulance service, and sometimes turbulent grant funding.
St John thrived in offering an entirely free (no cost to patient) emergency treatment and transportation to around 9,020 (82%) of the 11,432 patients we served in 2020.
“In that same period, the national and provincial government collectively provided around K6m in funding to St John which helped cover around 80% of the cost of providing free services. St John raised around K2m through social enterprises to keep reliable ambulances service free to those in need,” added Mr. Cannon. “We are proud of the high-quality services and products we can offer people. From being the only free public emergency ambulance, operating a reliable air medical retrieval service, to having social enterprises like first aid training and kits that help us raise funds for the charitable work we do. We know that people chose St John because they see the great social benefit of how we use the money we raise, it’s not just because our products and services are good.”
Mr. Matt Cannon also said that a logo must be recognisable, but a brand must be relatable. When people talk about St John in a way that implies a great element of trust, respect, and appreciation towards its work, the team at St. John knows that they are doing the right thing.
Accordingly, an organisation needs to remain relevant too. “I’ve seen and heard people say, ‘what would we do without St John?’ To me, that is placing great value on the organisation and its work,” concluded Mr. Cannon.
