Selfless volunteers from Gwent will be honoured at St John's ceremony

The Prior for Wales for St John, Dan Clayton-Jones, OBE, will conduct an Investiture in the presence of the Prior of the Priory in the USA, Palmer C Hamilton, KStJ, at Llandaff Cathedral.

A sermon will then be read by the Archbishop of Wales and Sub Prelate of the Order of St John, The Most Revd. Dr Barry Morgan, to recognise the selfless commitment of 50 special volunteers from across Wales who work for the charity.

Among those who will be honoured is Amanda Jolliffe, 44, from Pontypool, who will be promoted to the role of commander.

It’s been quite a week for Mrs Jolliffe, who only received her British Empire Medal (BEM) from the lord lieutenant of Gwent, Brigadier Robert Aitken, at Pontypool Civic Centre on Tuesday.

Mrs Jolliffe, who was honoured on the Queen’s New Year’s honours list, has been an officer with St John for 32 years and was appointed as an officer of the order in 2009.

She has worked tirelessly for Griffithstown Badgers for the past 25 years as well as running the badger sett and she is the assistant county youth officer for Gwent.

Mrs Jolliffe said that both the awards, which she believes recognise her “commitment and philosophy”, came as a surprise to her.

She said: “It’s been absolutely incredible because I get the BEM but had to keep it confidential and then a week or two later, I had a letter to say I got a promotion but, again, that it had to be kept confidential until it was announced.

“It’s a huge honour to get that and there are many people who have been in St John a long, long time to get that.

“It’s for the children at Badgers, too, because if it wasn’t for the children, I wouldn’t have gotten any of these things.”

Robert Aitken, 60, from Cwmbran, will also be promoted to the role of commander.

He was first admitted to the Order in 2003, and recently agreed to take up the appointment of the President of the Gwent St John Council after being appointed HM the Lord Lieutenant of Gwent.

Mr Aitken said he was slightly in shock and is “completely honoured” to be given the promotion.

He said: “It was a great honour ten years ago to be made the officer of St Johns and it is an honour to be made a commanding officer after only being promoted to Lord Lieutenant earlier this year.”

Jane Collier, 58, from New Inn, is another member of St Johns to be promoted to Dame of Grace after first joining the Cwmbran Division 50 years ago.

In 1992 she was appointed Deputy Chief Nursing Officer for Wales and became Regional Nursing Officer in 2001.

And in 2015 she was appointed as the Priory’s National Nursing Officer.

Ms Collier said she “can’t quite believe” her promotion and feels “very proud”.

She said: “It is not something you do for the honours, you do it for the community.

“It has been a long road but it has been a great honour.

“All the family have been involved and you see other youngsters get involved and it is nice that St John’s is still progressing and that these people grow up to be nurses like we did.”

But promotions are not the only things that will be given out at the awards tomorrow, as admissions as members and votes of thanks to companies and fundraisers will also be given.

The Parkway Hotel in Cwmbran is one of the businesses getting thanks as they have hosted the annual Gwent County Conference and other events for St John’s.

Kerry Jennings, 44, is the general manager of the hotel and said her and the rest of the staff are looking forward to the ceremony.

She said: “There’s a couple of us who are going tomorrow and we are delighted to be going.

“We have a great relationship with St John’s. We are very much on board with what they do and we do our very best for them.”

The event will give all volunteers a chance to celebrate their promotions and vote of thanks within St John’s, as well as being invested on behalf of HM The Queen.

Chief executive of St John’s, Keith Dunn, said: “All members of St John’s are delighted that Her Majesty the Queen has recognised members of St John’s in Gwent that do so much day in day out for the people of Wales.”

The rest of those honoured from Gwent will be given admission as members, these include:

Rhys Collier who been a member of the organisation for the last 24 years joining as a Badger in 1992, at the age of six.

A St John Wales spokesman described him as being a dedicated and proactive member completing over 200 hours annually as a Cadet, and that he attends local and national duties and can always be relied upon to give assistance at short notice.

Matthew Jones, who joined the Tredegar Division as a Cadet in 1998. A St John Wales spokesman said he has shown a continuously high level of commitment and loyalty to the organisation. He received the Special Service Shield in 2002.

David Manning-Lee, who the St John Wales spokesman described as being a valued and committed member of Tredegar Division for many years having joined the organisation as a Cadet in 1996. He added that Mr Manning-Lee's level of dedication and enthusiasm has helped build a very successful Youth section. His hard work was rewarded in 2014 when he was promoted to Divisional Officer in Charge.

Bronwen Newbury joined St John at the age of 10, and has participated in countless events and competitions. Her Cadet service culminated with her being chosen as Cadet of the Year in 2009.