0:00:03 > 0:00:06Hello. This is St John's Gate in London,
0:00:06 > 0:00:09the historic home of the Order of St John,
0:00:09 > 0:00:11a charity that can trace its history all the way back
0:00:11 > 0:00:14to 11th-century Jerusalem.
0:00:14 > 0:00:17The Order is better known to us as the St John Ambulance,
0:00:17 > 0:00:22who've been treating sick and injured people for over 140 years.
0:00:22 > 0:00:24Welcome to Songs Of Praise.
0:00:48 > 0:00:49On the programme...
0:00:49 > 0:00:53I learn some first aid tips and hear how this St John Ambulance trainer
0:00:53 > 0:00:56had to put his life in the hands of his students.
0:00:56 > 0:00:59I found myself going, "Come on, Jesus.
0:00:59 > 0:01:02"One, Jesus, two, Jesus, three, Jesus..."
0:01:03 > 0:01:06I find out about the origins of the ancient religious
0:01:06 > 0:01:09Order of St John, and the monks who founded it.
0:01:09 > 0:01:13And we meet the Good Samaritan who made history when she became
0:01:13 > 0:01:18the first person in Britain to donate a kidney to a complete stranger.
0:01:18 > 0:01:22I think that, on the whole, the holy spirit acts in us,
0:01:22 > 0:01:25and that many things that we can do, we should do.
0:01:34 > 0:01:36This is the modern Priory Church,
0:01:36 > 0:01:40here at the headquarters of St John Ambulance in Clerkenwell, London.
0:01:40 > 0:01:42Thanks to their volunteers,
0:01:42 > 0:01:47400,000 people a year learn how to save lives.
0:01:47 > 0:01:50I'm looking forward to brushing up on my first aid skills,
0:01:50 > 0:01:52because you never know when you're going to need them.
0:01:52 > 0:01:55The charity is spread throughout the country,
0:01:55 > 0:01:58and our music today comes from across the UK.
0:01:58 > 0:01:59As it's the season of Lent,
0:01:59 > 0:02:02we'll start with a hymn that's often sung at this time of year -
0:02:02 > 0:02:04I Will Sing The Wondrous Story.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30St John Ambulance have been helping others for decades.
0:04:30 > 0:04:32Whether it's at sporting occasions,
0:04:32 > 0:04:36pop concerts, or training others in the basics of first aid,
0:04:36 > 0:04:39like our group here today in London.
0:04:39 > 0:04:41So what we're going to look at for the next few minutes
0:04:41 > 0:04:44is the use of the triangular bandage...
0:04:44 > 0:04:47Each of us learning first aid has our own reasons for being here.
0:04:48 > 0:04:52We're sisters, and we have a large family, so you never know
0:04:52 > 0:04:56when a situation is going to come up where we might need to step in.
0:04:56 > 0:05:00Our ages range in our family from 60 down to 6 weeks.
0:05:00 > 0:05:02So any kind of situation could come up.
0:05:03 > 0:05:06I help at a church men's group, some of them have quite significant
0:05:06 > 0:05:09health problems, and I'm quite mindful of that.
0:05:10 > 0:05:13As it's Lent, you're not just meant to give something up,
0:05:13 > 0:05:15but you're also meant to learn something new or give something
0:05:15 > 0:05:18back, so I thought this was a good opportunity to do that.
0:05:18 > 0:05:22Shall we say Chloe's left forearm might be fractured?
0:05:22 > 0:05:25We can put her hand inside of her jacket,
0:05:25 > 0:05:27like so, and there we are.
0:05:27 > 0:05:28Encourage her to support it.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32Running our session is David Knowles from Exeter.
0:05:32 > 0:05:36He's been a St John Ambulance trainer for 17 years.
0:05:36 > 0:05:38St John Ambulance believes that nobody should suffer
0:05:38 > 0:05:41for want of first aid, wherever they are
0:05:41 > 0:05:43and whatever their age might be.
0:05:43 > 0:05:45Do you think it should be taught in schools?
0:05:45 > 0:05:46Yeah, I think it should be,
0:05:46 > 0:05:51because it's about getting close to people, helping them -
0:05:51 > 0:05:55with their permission, of course - and it brings out the human side
0:05:55 > 0:05:58of you, something that can easily be covered in this modern age.
0:05:59 > 0:06:04David feels that helping people in need is part of his Christian faith.
0:06:04 > 0:06:07Just think of the Good Samaritan, for instance,
0:06:07 > 0:06:11who crossed the road to help the poor person who'd been mugged,
0:06:11 > 0:06:15to use today's terms, whilst everyone else was passing him by.
0:06:15 > 0:06:21I think you will find that Jesus never passed somebody by who asked them for help.
0:06:21 > 0:06:23Do you think Jesus would be trained in first aid?
0:06:23 > 0:06:26- I think he's the instigator of it. - THEY LAUGH
0:06:27 > 0:06:31We'll be back later to hear the remarkable story of how, last year,
0:06:31 > 0:06:34David's teaching skills were put to the test
0:06:34 > 0:06:38when he had to rely on one of his students to save his life.
0:06:38 > 0:06:41Thank goodness he's such a great trainer.
0:06:41 > 0:06:45Our next hymn is a joyful celebration of the ultimate saviour.
0:09:19 > 0:09:23The charity St John Ambulance dates back almost 1,000 years,
0:09:23 > 0:09:26to the ancient religious Order of St John.
0:09:27 > 0:09:31The museum here at St John's Gate tells the history of the charity,
0:09:31 > 0:09:34and its surprising link to Jerusalem.
0:09:34 > 0:09:36Tom Foakes is the director.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40Now, Tom, I recognise this church.
0:09:40 > 0:09:42That's the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem,
0:09:42 > 0:09:46- where Jesus is supposed to have been buried.- Absolutely.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49If we take ourselves to the 11th century, many pilgrims
0:09:49 > 0:09:52would travel to the holy city of Jerusalem
0:09:52 > 0:09:54to visit this and other holy sites,
0:09:54 > 0:09:57and clearly travel in that time was not quite as convenient
0:09:57 > 0:09:59as it is today, so by the time they got to Jerusalem
0:09:59 > 0:10:01they were often in quite a poor state of health.
0:10:01 > 0:10:06So the Order of St John established a hospital in Jerusalem
0:10:06 > 0:10:09to care for those sick pilgrims, regardless of faith,
0:10:09 > 0:10:12and provide them with first aid care.
0:10:12 > 0:10:17- Amazing, and who's this? - This is the Blessed Gerard,
0:10:17 > 0:10:19the man who we can thank for all of this.
0:10:19 > 0:10:21He established the hospital in Jerusalem
0:10:21 > 0:10:25and began that exemplary healthcare.
0:10:25 > 0:10:28But it's not named after Gerard, it's named after John -
0:10:28 > 0:10:30presumably John the Baptist.
0:10:30 > 0:10:32Exactly, yes.
0:10:32 > 0:10:36Gerard is also responsible for the insignia of St John.
0:10:36 > 0:10:40The famous eight-pointed cross was worn on the monks' robes.
0:10:40 > 0:10:43So the symbol that you see on the side of an ambulance today
0:10:43 > 0:10:47is one continued, unbroken line from those original Hospitaller brothers
0:10:47 > 0:10:50as a symbol of first aid and humanitarian care.
0:10:52 > 0:10:53Over the following centuries,
0:10:53 > 0:10:56the Order of St John spread across the world,
0:10:56 > 0:10:59building hospitals and churches wherever they went.
0:10:59 > 0:11:03St John's Gate here in Clerkenwell in London became its English base.
0:11:05 > 0:11:07- Tom, this place is amazing.- Yes.
0:11:07 > 0:11:13So we are standing in the original Priory Church of the Order of St John,
0:11:13 > 0:11:15and this is the crypt,
0:11:15 > 0:11:18so this was the real focus of that religious devotion.
0:11:18 > 0:11:20So what happened to the Order?
0:11:20 > 0:11:24Well, in 1540, if you know your history, Henry VIII on the throne.
0:11:24 > 0:11:29He split from the Catholic church and in that year, 1540,
0:11:29 > 0:11:34the Order of St John was the last Catholic order in England to be dissolved.
0:11:34 > 0:11:38So then, prior of the Order here in England, William Weston,
0:11:38 > 0:11:41died of a broken heart on the day that the Order was dissolved.
0:11:41 > 0:11:44Because he had lost his order to the dissolution of the monasteries?
0:11:44 > 0:11:47Absolutely, yes. And we have his effigy, from his tomb.
0:11:48 > 0:11:51But it didn't stay lost for long, did it, the order of St John?
0:11:51 > 0:11:53How was it re-established?
0:11:53 > 0:11:56Well, in the 19th century, Britain was transformed.
0:11:56 > 0:12:00It has become a very industrialised country and there was no
0:12:00 > 0:12:04health and safety, there was no National Health Service,
0:12:04 > 0:12:08and there were many influential men and women who saw
0:12:08 > 0:12:11that original caring mission of the Order of St John
0:12:11 > 0:12:15and they wanted to address that in a modern way,
0:12:15 > 0:12:19so St John Ambulance was established as the charitable output of the Order,
0:12:19 > 0:12:23to provide, firstly, first aid training to the general public,
0:12:23 > 0:12:29and secondly as the uniformed brigade that you would be familiar with today
0:12:29 > 0:12:33and all those St John Ambulance volunteers who provide first aid to the public.
0:12:35 > 0:12:41Amazing to think that it all started because of the need to care for sick travellers.
0:12:41 > 0:12:44Our next hymn, He Who Would Valiant Be,
0:12:44 > 0:12:47reminds us of the courage shown by those early pilgrims
0:12:47 > 0:12:51when they made their journey to Jerusalem all those centuries ago.
0:15:19 > 0:15:23Earlier this week, the hugely influential American evangelist
0:15:23 > 0:15:26Billy Graham died, aged 99.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29We'll remind you of his global impact on Christianity
0:15:29 > 0:15:31in a special feature coming soon,
0:15:31 > 0:15:35but, for now, we dedicate one of his favourite hymns, Just As I Am,
0:15:35 > 0:15:36to his memory.
0:18:17 > 0:18:20Lots of people would love to learn how to save a life,
0:18:20 > 0:18:22but not everyone would be prepared to give away
0:18:22 > 0:18:25one of their kidneys to a complete stranger.
0:18:25 > 0:18:29JB Gill has been to meet a woman who did just that
0:18:29 > 0:18:32and began a whole new movement of good Samaritans.
0:18:33 > 0:18:37There are currently around 5,000 people in the UK in need
0:18:37 > 0:18:40of a kidney transplant, but giving a kidney to someone you've
0:18:40 > 0:18:44never met is still a relatively unusual thing to do.
0:18:46 > 0:18:48Kay Mason made medical history in 2007
0:18:48 > 0:18:51by becoming the first British organ donor
0:18:51 > 0:18:54to donate to someone she didn't know.
0:18:55 > 0:18:59When I realised that there were thousands of people on the waiting
0:18:59 > 0:19:01list for a kidney, I felt that
0:19:01 > 0:19:04I was in a good position to do it.
0:19:04 > 0:19:06And what was your motivation?
0:19:06 > 0:19:09I'm a great enthusiast for the holy spirit
0:19:09 > 0:19:14and I think that, on the whole, the holy spirit acts in us
0:19:14 > 0:19:16and that we are God's hands and feet
0:19:16 > 0:19:19and that many things that we can do,
0:19:19 > 0:19:23we should do. If you're willing to give a kidney to a friend,
0:19:23 > 0:19:27then why not give it to somebody you don't know at all?
0:19:29 > 0:19:33But Kay discovered doctors wouldn't allow her to donate.
0:19:33 > 0:19:36So she wrote to the Department of Health to ask why.
0:19:36 > 0:19:39I wrote to them several times - in fact, I wrote them as many times
0:19:39 > 0:19:43as I felt I was able to without being classified as a nutcase!
0:19:43 > 0:19:46And they constantly wrote back saying, yes,
0:19:46 > 0:19:50it was a nice idea, but doctors would be reluctant to
0:19:50 > 0:19:54operate on anybody for whom they couldn't see the benefit
0:19:54 > 0:19:59and it didn't make sense to them and they were worried about maybe
0:19:59 > 0:20:02money changing hands or coercion,
0:20:02 > 0:20:05which didn't apply at all,
0:20:05 > 0:20:08because obviously when it's out of your hands
0:20:08 > 0:20:11and you just hand over your kidney and somebody else gives it
0:20:11 > 0:20:15to somebody you don't know, there's no chance of money changing hands.
0:20:17 > 0:20:21But then they did say that they were preparing a consultation document
0:20:21 > 0:20:26and that if I would like to respond to that and make a contribution,
0:20:26 > 0:20:32I could, so I wrote a letter and, in due course, the law was changed.
0:20:32 > 0:20:34It was several years later.
0:20:35 > 0:20:38Kay is now involved with the charity Give a Kidney
0:20:38 > 0:20:41and regularly gives talks about her successful operation.
0:20:42 > 0:20:45There are so many risks associated with it, I think
0:20:45 > 0:20:48I'd be really terrified, even if I wanted to do it.
0:20:48 > 0:20:51There aren't too many risks associated with it.
0:20:51 > 0:20:56There's always a risk with any surgery, which one has to accept.
0:20:56 > 0:21:01But I have been so thoroughly investigated and, in fact, now
0:21:01 > 0:21:06I'm invited to go back every year for a checkup, so I think I'm better
0:21:06 > 0:21:10looked-after and likely to stay healthier than if I hadn't done it.
0:21:10 > 0:21:14- Did you ever meet the person you donated your kidney to?- No.
0:21:14 > 0:21:16There's always an understanding
0:21:16 > 0:21:22when you do this that anonymity can be maintained
0:21:22 > 0:21:25and if somebody particularly wants to be in touch,
0:21:25 > 0:21:28particularly the recipient, that can happen.
0:21:28 > 0:21:33But it isn't so in my case and that's... I'm fine with that.
0:21:33 > 0:21:37Also here today is Lisa Burnapp from NHS Blood and Transplants.
0:21:37 > 0:21:40The NHS's UK Living Kidney Sharing Scheme
0:21:40 > 0:21:42says one altruistic donation
0:21:42 > 0:21:45can trigger a chain of up to three
0:21:45 > 0:21:46further organ donations.
0:21:48 > 0:21:52- Is there an age limit?- There isn't, really. The average age of
0:21:52 > 0:21:55people donating to somebody they don't know
0:21:55 > 0:21:57is around 50.
0:21:57 > 0:21:59We've had a lot of donors between the ages of 50
0:21:59 > 0:22:03and the oldest was 85, so you can see the sort of range.
0:22:04 > 0:22:08One of Kay's favourite hymns sums up the sense of calling she felt.
0:22:09 > 0:22:13I'm very fond of the hymn I, The Lord Of Sea And Sky, because I think
0:22:13 > 0:22:19that's quite motivational when you sing that bit, "Is it I?"
0:22:19 > 0:22:20It makes you wonder, you know,
0:22:20 > 0:22:26what you can be doing that you haven't done or might be able to do.
0:25:04 > 0:25:05Back here in London,
0:25:05 > 0:25:10we're marking the 140 years of St John Ambulance first aid training.
0:25:10 > 0:25:14This is cardiopulmonary resuscitation - CPR.
0:25:14 > 0:25:19The first thing we do then is to start off with 30 chest compressions
0:25:19 > 0:25:22by placing the butt of your right hand or left hand
0:25:22 > 0:25:24in the centre of the person's chest...
0:25:24 > 0:25:27Here we go. Keep contact, yes. Keep contact.
0:25:29 > 0:25:33David knows only too well how important it is to teach first aid.
0:25:33 > 0:25:36Last year, he had to rely on his students
0:25:36 > 0:25:41when his life was at risk, as his friend Karol explains.
0:25:41 > 0:25:43Well, David and I are both
0:25:43 > 0:25:44members of the same church
0:25:44 > 0:25:49and each year, David is asked if he will do some first aid training.
0:25:49 > 0:25:53Check the breathing anyway by pushing the chin up...
0:25:53 > 0:25:54By about 10 o'clock,
0:25:54 > 0:25:57I began to feel rather unwell.
0:25:57 > 0:26:00I glanced up and looked at David and saw him
0:26:00 > 0:26:03taking his pulse in his wrist and I thought,
0:26:03 > 0:26:05"I know what this is about,"
0:26:05 > 0:26:08"he's going to start off by some scenario,"
0:26:08 > 0:26:10because on a previous year, he had told us that's
0:26:10 > 0:26:13exactly what he often does.
0:26:13 > 0:26:16But actually, he changed colour around his face and neck
0:26:16 > 0:26:18and I began to worry.
0:26:19 > 0:26:23I asked Karol to check my throat pulse, which was all over the place
0:26:23 > 0:26:26and quite weak, so it seemed to me
0:26:26 > 0:26:28that I was having a heart attack.
0:26:28 > 0:26:30Karol, what was going through your mind?
0:26:30 > 0:26:33If I'm honest, it was absolutely terrifying.
0:26:33 > 0:26:37When a crisis hits, the time stops,
0:26:37 > 0:26:39so it's a very strange feeling.
0:26:39 > 0:26:45Time seems to stand still and you desperately want two things - one,
0:26:45 > 0:26:50for God to suddenly miraculously answer prayers and actually...
0:26:50 > 0:26:54there was a very real sense of the fact that God was with us,
0:26:54 > 0:26:57and for somebody else, who knew more than you,
0:26:57 > 0:27:00to walk through the door at that precise moment.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03So the first part happened in that God showed up, the second
0:27:03 > 0:27:08part about the expert didn't, so it really was down to us to cope.
0:27:09 > 0:27:11I think the training
0:27:11 > 0:27:15that David had done the year before kicked in and I actually
0:27:15 > 0:27:20remember saying, "This would be hard to do in a real-life situation."
0:27:21 > 0:27:24I started CPR and what I did,
0:27:24 > 0:27:27which is going to sound strange,
0:27:27 > 0:27:29I found myself going,
0:27:29 > 0:27:32"Come on, Jesus - one Jesus, two Jesus, three Jesus..."
0:27:34 > 0:27:38I remember getting to 40 and saying, "Come on, Jesus!"
0:27:40 > 0:27:42And actually, he survived
0:27:42 > 0:27:47and I'm sure that that is the mercy and grace of God,
0:27:47 > 0:27:52because I'm sure we didn't do things in a textbook way.
0:27:52 > 0:27:54It was born out of desperation
0:27:54 > 0:27:57and faith that God would help us
0:27:57 > 0:28:00at a time when we really, really needed it.
0:28:00 > 0:28:04- David, you must be very proud of your pupils.- Oh, I am!
0:28:06 > 0:28:08She did what she was trained to do
0:28:08 > 0:28:10and...that's great.
0:28:10 > 0:28:12I actually arrested there,
0:28:12 > 0:28:17but she bought me the time that enabled the experts to get to us.
0:28:18 > 0:28:24David spent almost a month in hospital, but made a full recovery.
0:28:24 > 0:28:25I think since that day,
0:28:25 > 0:28:28the song 10,000 Reasons
0:28:28 > 0:28:32has held a particular powerful poignancy for me,
0:28:32 > 0:28:35the bit about whatever happens and whatever lies
0:28:35 > 0:28:40in front of us, may we still be singing by the end of the day.
0:28:40 > 0:28:43I found that really difficult at first to sing,
0:28:43 > 0:28:47because it had been our experience that, actually,
0:28:47 > 0:28:50God had been with us at a time of very great need.
0:31:15 > 0:31:17Well, that's almost it for today.
0:31:17 > 0:31:19Next week, Josie d'Arby
0:31:19 > 0:31:22and Claire McCollum are in the UK's smallest city.
0:31:22 > 0:31:26St Davids in Pembrokeshire is famous for its patron saint,
0:31:26 > 0:31:29but also has links to Saint Patrick.
0:31:29 > 0:31:32And we've a special performance from Katherine Jenkins.
0:31:34 > 0:31:37We end today with a hymn that aims to bring everyone together.
0:31:37 > 0:31:39Until next time, God bless.