Delwyn receives her Order of St John membership

Delwyn Walker poses with Governor General Her Excellency The Rt Hon Dame Cindy Kiro after receiving her award.

Delwyn Walker, of Dannevirke, received Membership of the Order of St John from New Zealand Governor-General Her Excellency the Rt Hon Dame Cindy Kiro GNZM,QSO, DStJ Prior on Saturday, July 16, in the Wellington Cathedral of St Paul.

She joined 23 others in a memorable Investiture Service hosted by the New Zealand Order of St John, one which has been followed many times by St John in its 900-year history.

Becoming a Member of St John is made on merit, a candidate is admitted because he or she stands out from his or her peers.

Delwyn at work in the Dannevirke Ambulance Station with her Mantle.

Delwyn was surprised to receive a letter from St John saying she had been nominated for Membership late last year and would she accept it. She said becoming a member of St John was a privilege and she was very thrilled to hear of her award in February. With Covid-19 rife, the ceremony took time to take place but it was all the more significant for her.

Delwyn began with St John in 2006 when she first approached them because her two sons were involved in motocross. This led to her involvement in the St Johns Cadet programme for which she is still the divisional manager also running its very popular cadet programme each week involving up to 30 cadets.

Since then she has been employed as an ambulance driver helping the paramedics with knowledge gained from the study. Currently, she works 12-hour shifts four days per week, two on nights, working out of both Dannevirke and Pahiatua bases.

Her Wellington experience was wonderful and Delwyn was highly impressed with the pomp and ceremony.

Starting outside St Paul's Cathedral she witnessed Governor-General Cindy Kiro inspecting a Guard of Honour by St John Cadets before following her into the Cathedral with the St John Dignitaries and Award recipients to a fanfare by Wellington Symphonic Bands, a processional hymn and a Karanga.

Dame Cindy then spoke after which the award ceremony began.

Delwyn was particularly thrilled to witness Richard Hitchcock being awarded the highest honour of Commander of St John as he had been her boss when she started with the cadets and now was her current boss in the ambulance service.

Sitting in the front seats, each recipient was called up separately and their citation read out before receiving their award in the form of a St John Mantle from the Governor General. Delwyn said it was a very memorable experience, a haka as they descended the Cathedral's steps finishing it off in style.

After the ceremony concluded and recipients were invited to afternoon tea in the Wellington Waterfront Conference Centre.

Part of the conditions in becoming a Member of St John is that recipients should help St John and as such Delwyn has helped in CPR refresher courses, maintaining defibrillators and recruiting volunteers.

Meanwhile she has a St John's Cadet Youth Camp to organise for late August.