St. John Ambulance Brigade is just one example of a charity which could do with a few more good men ... and women.

And despite the fact that the charity has been in Bermuda over 60 years ? in fact it is one of the world's oldest charities at over 900 years old ? the Brigade faces declining numbers. They have devised various methods of attracting new volunteers, but often without much success.

"It's extremely difficult to get people to volunteer," said Jacqueline Browne, executive director and the only full-time employee at St. John. She handles the day to day running of the office.

"You may put an ad in the paper but you just need to catch the right person's eye at the right time. Volunteering is not the first thing that comes to a person's mind when they think of an activity."

St. John provides first aid for a number of public functions, especially sporting events. They also help raise funding by teaching first-aid and CPR to the general public as well as businesses.

But Ms Browne admits that even exposure to something critical such as life-saying techniques does not mean that people are knocking down the St. John Ambulance Brigade door to sign up.

"Not at all, because they may be part of an organisation that requires that X number of staff train," Ms Browne stated.

"Even though we may say to them 'anyone interested in volunteering...', usually it is thought of strictly in business terms and when they've had their training they move on. In fact there was one lady very recently who saw an ad in the paper and she and I have been playing telephone tag for a month.

"I finally got her, she came in and is taking her first-aid and CPR now and hopes to volunteer for us. That's why one of the groups we try to highlight is spouses of guest workers who may not have the ability to work but could donate their time. We just have to try to get that message out a little bit more."

Added Ms Browne: "It's a different time and people don't like to sit down and listen to a lecture, so we have to change our product in terms of our teaching methods in order to attract and maintain people's interest.

"Plus everyone's working, people feel stressed and coming out to do community service does not necessarily ease that stress. We're hoping to put another ad in the paper next week trying to get people to come in.

"It's one thing to get the call after you air the ad but it's to convert that call into a warm body who comes in and stays for a little while. The last time we advertised, I got a number of phone calls and out of that I may have had one or two people who actually crossed the threshold."

The Brigade has also used its Cadets to persuade their peers to consider the charity for volunteer work.

"Two of my senior high school students, I asked to do a project this past year and that was to do a programme that we could roll out to high school students to take to the schools and they would talk and recruit their peers," explained Ms Browne.

"We got about four calls and one warm body. Or we have people who come and fill out an application form and never come back."

The fact that St. John is an alternative to Regiment duty is also not necessarily a good thing, either, she disclosed.

"It's easy and they can waffle a bit in terms of attendance and really that is not acceptable," said Ms Brown who revealed that of about 50 members there are only about 30 who are presently active.

"So we try to limit the amount of deferees that we get. We try to make them understand that it is very serious business and we take our responsibilities seriously and we will report them to the military if they do not meet their weekly volunteer responsibility. We had to return two to the military last year.

"Those who are here want to work with other committed people, so it is a bit disheartening if you have a volunteer and they put their name down and they don't show up. It also makes us not look very good if we can't fulfil the need."

One person who did give sterling service to the charity was the man chosen as their outstanding volunteer, Steven Adams.

"Steven is actually the architect of the revised training plan for the adult and cadet training programmes," said the executive director.

"There was input from our training officers, myself and a variety of other people, but he actually wrote it all out and set out when the various topics were going to fall into play as well as who was going to talk at various points during a one year programme.

"It was a tremendous amount of work and took him a few months. Steven is also an instructor for St. John and teaches first-aid and CPR. He's certainly an energetic person who makes the most of his day."

Mr. Adams sees it as "giving back to the community".

"Everybody should be involved in some sort of charity and give back," he urged.

"Now it's 'if I do for you I have to get something in return', but if you just do good, goodness will come back to you. I enjoy doing charitable work, and with St. John I feel I'm helping people by educating them about first-aid and about CPR. Just by educating I know I can save somebody's life.

"I got involved in 2000 just from looking for something else to do. But I didn't think I would be where I am today, an instructor for St. John. I learned as I went along.

"There was room for an instructor and I took advantage and became an instructor. They are not asking for a whole lot of your time, just two hours a week to put aside and do something for somebody else. I have a busy schedule myself, but I still find time to do a lot for St. John. It's something I enjoy and look forward to doing for a while."

And to the person who may not be inclined to learn first-aid and CPR, the Brigade is also looking for volunteers for office work, someone to help out in the office.

"Filing or anything like that," said Ms Brown. "When people think of the Brigade they think of going out in the community but the office is also an area that could use some assistance."