As Chief Commissioner, I head a leadership team that focuses on every aspect of the St John volunteer experience. Engaging with our volunteers at all levels is a key part of my role as I ensure that their collective voice is at the heart of everything we do. Being Chief Commissioner also means that I am a Trustee. 

I started my life with St John aged 10 and have been involved with the charity ever since. After running several Cadet units, I went on to hold a number of youth and operational positions until I was appointed the first female Commissioner for London in 2008. I was responsible for our volunteer resourcing for all major events in the capital – including the Diamond Jubilee, Olympics and Paralympic Games – for five years. After St John restructured, I became a District Manager and National Adviser before being appointed Chief Commissioner in 2017.

I spend a great deal of my time working with my colleague Trustees and the Executive Committee setting strategy and ensuring our charity continues to serve the community in the best way it can. I Chair, or am a member of many committees and work groups and, in non-Covid times, I travel the country to attend numerous events, meetings and award ceremonies. ​​​​​​​As the voice and visible leader of St John volunteers, it’s important for me to get out there on the front line and share their experiences and in this way, I ensure I am a strong advocate for their views and concerns.

Previously, I spent 25 years in the NHS ambulance sector in a number of clinical and operational roles. I was previously the Director of Operations at the Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust (WAST), where I helped to improve their performance and reputation. I also played a key role in WAST’s clinical modernisation programme and new response model. 

I’m a registered paramedic and maintain my clinical competency by volunteering for St John at events across the country. I was awarded the Queen’s Ambulance Medal for distinguished ambulance service in 2016. I'm also an examiner for the Royal College of Surgeons Faculty of Pre-Hospital Care in Edinburgh, where I hold a Fellowship in Immediate Care. 

In 2020-21, I led the Strategic Coordination Group for our Covid-19 response, and I am really proud of this organisation and all that St John people achieve. In 2021, I was honoured to be made a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) for my services to healthcare during Covid-19. 

I'm responsible for helping build our long-term strategy and reputation, supporting our relationships with the government and key partners, like the NHS and ensuring that we are able to influence in the public arena. I also focus on ensuring ExCo works effectively together, supporting collaboration across our national networks. 

Previously, I spent over a decade working in the sport and leisure industries in a variety of policy, insight and strategy roles. I helped to write the government’s overall sport strategy, championing the importance of understanding the needs of people and communities in the process. 

I’m here because of my firm belief in the importance of the role St John plays in communities across the country. We have a great story to tell about our past, present and future and an incredible opportunity to make a profound difference to health care in our homes and communities. 

I joined St John as Chief Business Officer in December 2020. My role involves leading the Education and Enterprise Network, while focussing on all our commercial activity as a charity. I lead the Training Operations, Education & Products, Sales Marketing & Business Development, Supplies, Events and Customer Services teams. 

Before joining St John, I was the Chief Executive Officer of St John Ambulance in South Africa. I have a well-developed track record in humanitarian aid development whilst also having served as a Digital Transformation Executive for several blue-chip companies in both South Africa and the United Kingdom. I have also taught and tutored for several years at two universities in South Africa and, more recently, as a guest lecturer at the India School of Business in Hyderabad. 

I’m here because my twin life passions of adding exceptional value and leaving a lasting, positive legacy by continuously applying my commercial, entrepreneurial, networking and strategic management skills in professional practice across the globe. 

I have been a volunteer with St John for a number of years and continue to do so within St John Ambulance in England. I am currently finalising my Doctorate in Post-Pandemic Business Recovery models. 

I joined St John in July 2020 and bring over 20 years experience in the charity sector. I am responsible for Financial Planning & Insight, Financial Reporting, My Support

Service, Governance, Procurement and Estate & Facilities. 

I joined St John from the Scouts Association where I was CFO, and was responsible for Finance, People, Governance and Legal.  Prior to my time at the Scouts, I was Deputy CEO at Blind Veterans and was CEO at Learning and Skills.  

I started my career working in the commercial sectors, working for large retail chains and spent a number of years with the Sony Corporation working in the UK, France and the USA. 

I am also a Fellow of the Association of Certified Accountants and an ICSA qualified Company Secretary. 

I joined St John in April 2022. My role is to provide senior strategic leadership across our Engagement & Experience Network to deliver a shared experience for all of our people, supporters and customers and inspire a deeper connection to our mission and values.  

I joined St John from Nesta, a charitable foundation that supports innovation for social good, where most recently I was Chief Partnership Officer with responsibility for building Nesta’s programmes in the four nations of the UK and establishing and spinning out commercial ventures. Before that, I was Nesta’s Executive Director of Programmes, overseeing the distribution of £70m of grants to charities and social enterprises to prototype new ways of working and supporting the best to scale up nationwide. 

I'm responsible for shaping and leading our change agenda at St John. My role involves leading the Digital & Intelligence network and our Digital, Technology, Continuous Improvement and Data & Impact teams. 

Prior to joining St John as Director of Change in October 2020, I have extensive experience as a CIO and transformation executive working across the private, public and third sectors. My most recent experience includes the CIO role at NHS Blood & Transplant and the Transformation Director role at Quilter PLC as it floated on the Stock Exchange. 

I am greatly enjoying my time at St John, and the opportunity it gives me to make a difference to our communities. I also work as a Trustee with Mind. 

Meet The Priory Council of Trustees 

This is the Board for St John Ambulance’s parent charity, The Priory of England and the Islands of the Order of St John  

The Prior - Stuart Shilson LVO GCStJ DL 

Stuart Shilson is Prior of the Priory of England and the Islands of the Order of St John, and Chair of St John Ambulance. He is a Bailiff Grand Cross of the Order and was previously a member of its worldwide governing body. As Sub-Prior of the Order internationally, he helped establish an innovative maternal and neonatal care programme in sub-Saharan Africa. He retired as Trustee of British Red Cross recently and is a serving Deputy Lieutenant for Greater London. 

In his professional life, Stuart is a senior partner at global consulting firm McKinsey & Company, focusing on economic and social infrastructure. During a long and illustrious career, he has worked as a commercial barrister and senior civil servant in the Cabinet Office – and spent three years as Assistant Private Secretary to HM The Queen, our Sovereign Head.  

The Chancellor - Michael Messinger LVO KStJ QPM DL​ 

Michael Messinger’s professional life was in the Metropolitan Police Service where he served for 40 years working in various posts in south and central London before retiring in 2006. For the latter part of his career, he was responsible for public event policing, emergency planning and consequence management policy and delivery across London. Since 2016, he has been a Trustee of the Police Memorial Trust. 

Michael joined St John Ambulance in London in 2007 as the Commander for London, before being appointed Chief Volunteer in 2012 – the charity’s most senior uniformed volunteer. He has been a Trustee of St John Ambulance since June 2010 and was appointed to Priory Council in 2017. He was appointed Chancellor of the Priory of England and the Islands in 2017 and was acting Prior from November 2021 to spring 2022. 

When not volunteering he enjoys watching sport, reading and walking. 

The Dean, The Very Reverend Dr John Hall KCVO CStJ  

Dr John Hall was the 38th Dean of Westminster from 2006 until November 2019. As Dean, he led the ministry and mission of Westminster Abbey. He chaired the governors of Westminster School and of Harris Westminster Sixth Form. 

After a gap year in Kenya and university in Durham, he taught for two years in Hull before training for the priesthood. He was ordained in 1975 and worked in parishes in South London, later serving as diocesan director of education in Lancashire. Then for eight years he served as the Church of England's chief education officer, overseeing, amongst other responsibilities, almost 5,000 Church of England schools and eleven Anglican universities. 

John is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and of the Chartered Institute of Secretaries. He has honorary doctorates from four universities and was for eight years a Pro Chancellor of the University of Roehampton. In October 2019, The Queen appointed him a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order. 

Dr Hall chairs the Council of the Royal School of Church Music and is a trustee of two groups of academies and independent schools, the Woodard Corporation and United Learning. He lives in Chichester, where he is a Prebendary (honorary canon) of the Cathedral. He is Dean Emeritus of Westminster. 

Chief Commissioner - Ann Cable MBE DStJ DL 

Appointed a Trustee in 2017, Ann Cable began her St John life as a Cadet and has been involved with the organisation ever since. Having run several successful Cadet Units, she went on to hold senior operational positions and was appointed the first female Commissioner for London St John Ambulance in 2008. She led the St John Ambulance volunteer resourcing for all major events in the capital during the period 2008 - 2013. This included Her Majesty The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics and Paralympic Games. Mrs Cable went on to become National Volunteering Adviser and, in 2017, she was appointed Chief Volunteer. In June 2019, she became St John Ambulance's Chief Commissioner, with responsibility for leading our 25,000 volunteers and providing strategic oversight in this area for the charity. 

Now retired from her professional life as a headteacher and school inspector, Ann also thoroughly enjoys her role as the Representative Deputy Lieutenant for the London Borough of Enfield.  

Dr Ros Smith CStJ 

Dr Ros Smith had been involved with St John since becoming a first aider in 1984 and has most recently trained as a St John volunteer vaccinator. She has been a trustee of a number of charities and is currently Chairman of Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust, supporting Cambridge University Hospitals, as well as being a trustee of a grant-making charity concentrating on education and social mobility. 

Ros’s business background was in the software industry, where she was one of the founders, and COO, of Geneva Technology which achieved a valuation of $700 million when it merged with Convergys Corporation in 2001. She now runs a multi asset class investment organisation, and in 2019 founded Friargrove, a fund of funds focused on funding businesses working on initiatives and innovations that have a positive environmental, social or medical impact. 

In 2021 Ros was awarded the Life Saving Medal of the Order of St John, in silver, for her part in assisting two climbers in poor weather conditions on Mt Blanc.  

Mr Ashley Sweetland MBE CStJ 

Ashley Sweetland began his St John volunteering aged 8 and has been involved with the organisation ever since. He was our National Cadet of the Year 2000 and has held several senior operational roles. Most notably, Ashley has played an instrumental role for over 15 years in the formation, development and leadership of Cycle Response Units across the country, including supporting the concept in other parts of St John internationally. He has been a member of Priory Chapter since 2016 and is currently Chair of the Board’s Fundraising Committee. 

Professionally, Ashley is Head of Global Communications, Engagement and ESG at Convatec Group Plc, a leading international medical products and technologies company. He joined them in 2021, having spent almost five years as Head of Global Internal Communications at InterContinental Hotels Group Plc. He has worked across sectors in a range of strategic communications and corporate responsibility roles, including at CBRE, Lloyds Banking Group, BT, London 2012 and the Department for Education. 

Ashley has previously held a variety of Board level roles with the UK Youth Parliament, National Council for Voluntary Youth Services and Russell Commission on youth volunteering. He was awarded the MBE for services to young people in 2012, the Freedom of the City of London in 2014 and promoted to Commander in the Order of St John in 2020.