Senior representatives of ambulance services from around the country attended a moving national Ambulance Remembrance Service to honour colleagues who have died while on duty and in service.
The biennial service, which took place at the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas, Staffordshire, is an Act of Remembrance to honour the memory of all those who served and died while working for the ambulance services of England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Guernsey and Jersey.
The event, organised by TASC, The Ambulance Services Charity, was attended by around 160 people including representatives of ambulance services, retirement associations, the Independent Ambulance Association, charities, Unison, and relatives of ambulance personnel on the Roll of Honour.
The event began with a private service at the Arboretum’s Chapel of Peace by Rev Paul Fermor, Deputy Senior Chaplain at South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, together with readings by Scottish Ambulance Service technician Violet Hornby, and North West Ambulance Service operational services manager Maria Fisher, plus music from TASC trustee Cliff Randall, accompanied by his brother Paul.
A procession led by a piper then moved to the Ambulance Memorial within the Ambulance Services Garden of Remembrance where the Roll of Honour, currently consisting of 93 names of ambulance personnel, was read out by John Eames and Steven Rust from West Midlands Ambulance Service. There was also a further reading, from retired West Midlands Ambulance Service paramedic Carl Ledbury, who read out World War One poem The Fallen,
This was followed by the laying of 14 wreaths and floral tributes on behalf of ambulance trusts, retirement associations, relatives of those on the Roll of Honour, Unison and TASC. Marcus Main from the Welsh Ambulance Service then played The Last Post before the Rev Fermor gave a final prayer which preceded a two minute silence.
For more information about TASC please visit www.theasc.org.uk or call 0800 1032 999.
Learn more about our Memorial service