STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 5 - OUR CULTURE
OUR VALUES
THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF OUR CHIEF FIRE OFFICER
Whether on our operational or charity team, all those who work for London’s Air Ambulance share in a passion for the work that we do. This passion drives us to deliver the best service we can for our patients.
Our longest serving Fire Officer, John Power, has celebrated 25 years with London’s Air Ambulance [in post] this year. We are privileged to have people like John on our team, who have dedicated their lives to our cause. This incredible wealth of experience, unwavering professionalism and complete dedication to our patients, is what makes our service what it is.
one single aspect of the service that made an impact on me that day, but I remember being impressed with the teamwork at the helipad. Everyone at the charity worked as a team, a close team. I simply thought ‘Wow, I want to work here’. And you knew you were doing some good. You can make an immediate difference to someone’s life”.
When John joined London’s Air Ambulance on 1st April 1994, his ex-colleagues at Battersea Heliport joked that doing it on a Fool’s Day was rather telling – leaving a stable job for a charity whose future was unpredictable seemed foolish to many. “We were always fighting our corner, and no one could be sure if London’s Air Ambulance would be around the next year”, says John.
Happy anniversary to John!
With our new strategy in place, this year we redefined our values to give us a common grounding over the next five years. Our teams came together to discuss what we consider to be intrinsic to our work, and established three new values:
John’s life has always revolved around aviation. Originally from Wood Green, the sky above John’s house was always full of aircraft. He watched the planes take turns towards Heathrow and spent the weekends observing the planes at the airport.
Compassionate
We care about people and put them at the heart of everything we do. We are kind, respectful and always keen to listen to feedback.
Courageous
We are prepared to achieve our mission in challenging environments. We are authentic, honest and not afraid to challenge and take calculated risks.
Pioneering
We embrace and lead change through our innovation and creativity. We are constantly learning, both from our successes and from our failures, to make sure we are always striving to improve.
Despite this life-long passion, it wasn’t primarily the aviation side of the service that struck him most when he first arrived at London’s Air Ambulance. When asked what went through his mind when he first visited after his interview in 1994, he says: “It’s hard to choose
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