Starting a first aid society

Support our life saving work

We believe in stepping forward in the moments that matter to save lives and support communities. We do this by volunteering for first aid and health care in communities. You can support our life saving work by setting up a St John Ambulance partnered university society and student volunteering unit. 

We have first aid societies at around 50 universities in England already. Check your university doesn't already have one with your student union or on our website.

How to set up a first aid society

If you would like to set up a society, first speak to your student union. Each student union will have requirements on how to set up a society, such as the minimum number of members you need, and membership fees.

Let us know about your society

You should then contact our Student Volunteering team to let us know about your society. Get in touch with us by email: student-volunteering@sja.org.uk. 

Our student volunteering officers are based all around the country and can give you support in running your society. 

Each society should then produce a constitution. This is a document that outlines the aim and objectives of the society. We can provide you with guidelines on how to write this.

Things to think about once your society is set up:

• Advertising your society - find out when your freshers fair is and get a stall. We can help provide you with recruitment materials. Social media, such as Facebook groups and Twitter accounts, can also be great for attracting new members as well as communicating with existing ones.
• Producing a schedule of weekly meetings - this will mainly consist of first aid training. We provide some great first aid advice resources on our website.
• Booking meeting rooms - find out how to book meeting rooms/space for your sessions.
• Funding availability - speak to your university about funding available to buy resources for your unit, such as a CPR manikin.
• Putting on events - figure out what events you would like to put on, such as first aid demos, fundraising events, and social events.

Partnering with us

Once you have members in your society, you can then speak to us about setting up a partnered student volunteering unit. This will enable you to recruit people to become volunteer first aiders with us, and you will benefit from all the opportunities available to a St John Ambulance volunteer. This decision would be made jointly between the society and your local St John Ambulance management team.

Got a question?

For more information, please contact the student volunteering team at student-volunteering@sja.org.uk.