On the job

It's International Volunteers Day on Saturday and Phil Budding is an ideal person to talk to about the benefits of giving time to a good cause. After all, he has been a volunteer for St John for four decades. He talks to Emma Goodwin.

It was at the tender age of eight that Phil Budding joined St John as a volunteer in 1968, as a youth member in Palmerston North.

He went on to gain the Grand Prior Award, which is the highest accolade that can be bestowed on one so young.

Mr Budding was born in Napier and moved to Manawatu with his parents, who thought it would be good for their son to join St John.

"At least I think that's how it went; I can't really remember, it was that long ago.

"It was like when kids became part of Scouts or Boys' Brigade. St John was the thing to do then."

As a senior youth member, Mr Budding worked his way through various competitions where different scenarios were given to the competitors and they were marked on how they handled them.

They could be as simple as bed making or scenarios that involved multiple victims.

"It's a good way for people to learn. You can actually learn without killing anyone," he laughs.

Since those early days, Mr Budding has done his own fair share of judging those competitions.

"Most of our top people have been through that system."

While he is now in paid employment with St John, Mr Budding has still maintained a strong connection to the volunteer side of the organisation.

He juggles both volunteer hours and his paid time, but he finds it impossible to say how many hours a week are taken up with his volunteer work.

"I don't know and I don't care, to be honest. Some of my hours I do as a volunteer and some is paid work. It's all the same to me. My volunteer work at the moment is as the regional volunteer adviser."

There is always one incident that sticks in a volunteer's mind, and for Mr Budding it is an accident that occurred at 3.55pm on December 6, 1988. He and three colleagues were returning from a day's work for the DSIR when they came across two cars on fire in the Manawatu Gorge.

The fatal accident made the national news and resulted in a visit to Government House to receive an award for his part in rescuing two people from the carnage.

"It's probably the event that sticks in my mind the most. At the end of the day it was a group of guys who had never seen an accident in their life and they did what they were asked to do.

"We were in T-shirts, shorts and jandals and suddenly you're involved in something massive."

There are 314 volunteers in the Manawatu district and 100 vehicles. Thirty of those local volunteers are event volunteers who are prominent at speedway, motocross and other local events.

The group did get a bit of stick about leaving work early that day, but it was probably just as well they did.

So what's kept him volunteering for so long?

"I don't know, I enjoy the work, enjoy the helping people. I've seen people we have brought in that have been very, very ill and transported them home days later and I don't recognise them. To see that big a change in people is great."

Over the years he seen a huge amount of change in the way things are done.

"Gone are the days of throw them [patients] in the boot and get them to the hospital. Things are far more refined now.

"Now it is pretty much hospital care and it does makes a difference to the outcome of the patient. We have skills and drugs that can make a difference, such as pain relief.

"People's training is a lot better and the equipment now is so much better for the outcome of the patient."

Mr Budding is the only member of his family actively involved in St John, although on occasion certain events attracted a bit of extra attention.

"My eldest daughter helps out a bit at motocross doing the documentation, but I think it's more about young guys and bikes than spending time with me," he laughs.

It's not only the method of doing things that has improved over the years; the infrastructure has also had an overhaul.

"A lot of the responsibility of senior volunteers has come off and gone on to paid managers in each district. I am now an advocate for the volunteers, although I am also part of the management team, too. It works well due to my experience as a volunteer."

One of the things that Mr Budding enjoys most is his event management role.

"There's a lot of logistics involved but because I've been doing it for so long, it's almost second nature."

He has been a regular fixture at the Woodville motocross event for 35 years.

"It's great when there are no issues because I can watch the event. I love watching motorsport.

"There are some volunteers that are looking for work at these events because they have log books to complete. I was like that once.

"You can do a lot of planning and nothing happens, which is great."

- © Fairfax NZ News