Since those early days, the Order of St John has grown into an international non-profit, non-denominational organizations comprising over 30 000 members worldwide and operating in almost 40 countries including South Africa, the United Kingdom, USA, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

In South Africa, the Order of St John is represented by the following foundations:

• St John Ambulance Foundation www.stjohambulance.co.za
• St John Ophthalmic Foundation http://www.stjohnambulance.co.za/copy/eyes.asp
• St John Training & Education Foundation

St John Ambulance offers First Aid and Home Care training to commerce and industry, schools, government departments, the military and of course to the general public so that they can assist in times of emergency at home and work. The range of courses is designed to cater for the advanced First Aider to young schoolchildren as well as those individuals with limited reading and writing skills.

For more information visit their website at http://www.orderofstjohn.org.za/default.asp

Vocalize is a “not for profit” organisation founded on the basis that our love of singing can be used to assist many worthy causes in our community. “We cannot thank you enough for the very fine gesture – it is much appreciated,” said Barbara Campbell-Ker, executive director of Witwatersrand Hospice.

Within an atmosphere of care and compassion, we offer palliative care service that focuses on the quality of life, promoting physical and psychosocial well-being for people with active, progressive and advanced diseases for whom the prognosis is limited. This is achieved by providing holistic palliative care and support services, including training and education to patients, their families and care givers in the Greater Johannesburg and Soweto areas.

We provide expert palliative care with emphasis on pain and symptom management under the direction of physicians and an interdisciplinary team of specially trained health care professionals. Our services are available 24 hours a day,     7 days a week on-call support for adults and children who are terminally ill. Care services offer physical, emotional, social and spiritual services as part of the total care to patients and their families.

• General Inpatient Services – doctors work with the patient’s physician and are responsible for the medical component of our program.
• Outpatient Services (Hospice at Home) 
• Nursing Services – our Registered Nurses (RN’s) are also certified in hospice and palliative care.
• Pediatric Program – places priority on the needs of the entire family when a child is diagnosed with a life-threatening condition.
• Social Workers – provide supportive counselling to help cope with the emotional, social and financial stresses resulting from the illness and impending loss.
• Spiritual Care – our programs are not intended to replace your relationship with your local community of faith.   We provide referrals for local religious or spiritual groups.
• Volunteers – offer assistance with the activities of daily living and friendly support, companionship and encouragement to patients and family members.
• Bereavement – support to family members after the loss of a loved one. Assistance is given through counseling, volunteer visits, educational materials, and support groups. Bereavement support is available for 12 months following a death. Programs are also open to the public.
• Loan Equipment – from pressure relieving equipment, to commodes and wheelchairs etc. 
• Short Term Respite Care – short term inpatient care provided to relieve the family member/s caring for a terminally ill relative.

For more information visit their website at http://www.hospicewitwatersrand.org.za/index.html

Take the St Andrews Road offramp, turn right back across the M1 highway. At the lights turn right into Jan Smuts Avenue. After the first lights turn left into The Valley Road. At the second traffic circle turn right into Pallinghurst Road, and then first left into Woolston Road. Parking is either in the grounds of The Ridge School, which is straight ahead, or in the grounds of Glenshiel, which is on the right, just around the first bend in the road. 

From Jan Smuts Avenue South:

Pass through the set of lights at Upper Park Drive (with the Johannesburg Zoo on your left), and about 400m further up the hill turn right into The Valley Road. At the second traffic circle turn right into Pallinghurst Road, and then first left into Woolston Road. Parking is either in the grounds of The Ridge School, which is straight ahead, or in the grounds of Glenshiel, which is on the right, just around the first bend in the road.

For an online map of the area visit the link below:

http://maps.brabys.co.za/mweb/map.asp?x=28.02623650000003&y=-26.175712999999987&z=0.005#g