2 minute read
New Member Profile
by Boylen
ST JOHN NT MECHANICAL WORKSHOP
BY LUCY BREWER
St John NT Mechanical Workshop has been building and maintaining ambulances for more than 25 years, with Manager, Mark Grahame overseeing the three key areas of the mechanical workshop in Darwin for the past ten.
One is the retail side, where members of the public can have their vehicle serviced, then there is the core maintenance of the St John NT ambulance fleet and thirdly, a body building and fabrication workshop where ambulances are built in-house.
The not-for-profit organisation also has a workshop in Alice Springs.
“A lot of people out in the community don’t know that we actually service and maintain for any kind of fleet, as long as it’s in the four-and-a-half-tonne range,” said Mark.
The revenue from the retail operation goes towards local, community-based programs.
“One of the best things about coming to work in the morning is we’re not making someone rich, all of this hard work is going back into our community.
“The core reason the workshop has been developed is to support the volunteer service and our ambulance operations.”
The business is also a service agent for Ferno Washington stretchers and the Northern Territory provider of Bus 4x4 Conversion Kits, suitable for the Toyota HiAce Van/ Commuter Bus and Toyota Coaster Bus.
“There seems to be a bit of an appetite in the community for that area, especially in the health department and tourism operators,” said Mark.
“We’re just your run-of-the-mill workshop as well, and we can do all ranges of motor vehicle repairs, maintenance, servicing and overhauling.”
Mark’s passion for St John NT and the vehicles they service is evident. He has worked at the non-profit for almost 10 years and declares himself a ‘lifer’.
“I live and breathe cars, I always have since I can remember. The new technologies coming out in the vehicles, they just fascinate me… there’s always something new.
“We’re not doing the same thing every day, that’s really it. There’s always something different, a new challenge to undertake.”
Mark credits the St John NT name with its success, noting, “customers aren’t a number, there’s a personal aspect to it when they come in.”
Like many, St John NT suffered in 2020 due to COVID-19 but business has since started to boom.
“COVID-19 impacted the business, we were pretty quiet for a little bit, I’d say a couple of months,” he said.
“Then the floodgates opened. To be honest, I can’t get enough staff to support everybody’s travelling.
“Also, the health management side is really big for us. Being an ambulance service, patient care is our number one priority, so separating the community from our operations department has been a very significant undertaking,” said Mark.
St John NT became a member of the MTA primarily due to the support offered.
“It really is the backing and the support that MTA can provide us, especially in our commercial side,” explained Mark.
