Lady Blundell Centre

Rau rangatira mā, e kui mā, e koro mā, e huihui nei, tēnei aku mihi māhana ki a koutou.  Kia ora tātou katoa. Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, warm greetings to you all.

I specifically acknowledge: Garry Wilson, Chancellor of the Order of St John; Chief Executive Officer Peter Bradley; Richard Blundell, Chairman of the Northern Regional Trust Board; and Hon Dame Catherine Tizard, my predecessor both as Prior of St John and Governor-General.

I am delighted to be with you to celebrate the opening of the Lady Blundell Centre.  Later I will unveil a plaque and cut a ribbon to officially open this centre.  Before I do, I want to speak of the significance of this event.

I want to begin by congratulating everyone who has been involved in bringing this project to fruition.  Your foresight, effort and commitment are commendable.  All the more so because the woman for whom this Centre is named was a mighty personality. 

For some time St John, and the Northern Region Trust Board, have recognised the growing demands on its services in the area from Cape Reinga to Waihi.  As the recent census results have shown, the population of the Northern Region is growing fast.  The population of the Auckland Council area alone has grown by more than 8 percent since 2006.

The response to a burgeoning population has also seen growth within St John in the Northern Region.  With 6,428 full-time staff, volunteers and youth members, the demands on the Northern Region are immense.  For example, the 1-1-1 service, in the Northern Region handles more than 800 emergency calls every day and the Northern Region medics treat more than 160,000 patients a year – that’s one patient every 3 minutes and 12 seconds.

This Centre forms a key part of St John’s strategy to meet the needs and challenges of the region.  In doing so it will help to maintain the high standards of care that New Zealanders have come to expect from all health service providers, and especially St John.  The Centre also provides a strong foundation to meet future needs with confidence.

The Centre will play a pivotal role in St John’s current and future services in the Northern region. This Regional Headquarters is the hub of the many services that St John provides - the ambulance service, public first aid training, the youth programme, Caring Caller, and Friends of the Hospital and Telecare.

The Centre is an amazing facility.  It provides much needed classrooms for the expanding public first aid programme, offices for internal training and staff administration, and it provides car parking spaces.  The site has options for further development too.

Given this Centre represents St John’s ongoing service to the Northern Region, it is fitting that the Northern Regional Trust Board unanimously agreed to name the site the Lady Blundell Centre.  Lady June, who sadly passed away in October last year, dedicated her life to the service of others, and was especially dedicated to serving St John. 

A softly spoken person, who never sought the limelight, Lady June worked quietly and tirelessly on behalf of many community organisations and charities.  She was one of the longest serving members of New Zealand’s highest honour, the Order of New Zealand.  She was also appointed to the highest grade in the Order of St John, an honour only 21 members hold world-wide.

Lady June’s work and service to St John was legion.  It is estimated that she enrolled more than 8,000 youth members and presented thousands of service medals and awards, and opened almost every new station and building in the Northern Region in her 40 years of dedicated service.

The Lady Blundell Centre will be an enduring tribute to her name, her contribution and her memory.  It will also be a constant reminder of St John’s mission to be the first to care.

It therefore gives me great pleasure as Governor-General and Prior of the Order of St John in New Zealand to declare the Lady Blundell Centre officially open.

Kia ora huihui tātou katoa