What motivates someone to join the Order of St John? We spoke with Hannah Richards, an Independent Member of TEC, about her journey, the power of communication in humanitarian work, and what makes the St John community so unique.
What first inspired you to get involved with the Order of St John and to serve on TEC?
St John International is the embodiment of a powerful human instinct to care for each other, whoever we are. It’s an organisation that holds this instinct as something that should be celebrated, nurtured and channelled into saving and improving lives.
When I had the chance to apply to be an independent trustee for St John International, I jumped at it. I feel strongly about the values and aims of the organisation, and I find the history and current structure fascinating and found myself wanting to learn more about the opportunities and challenges.
As an Independent Member of TEC, what perspective or experience do you hope to bring to the work of the Order?
I have worked in communications for the international charity sector for my whole career across different global organisations. I am really hoping to bring external context and learning from many years of experience. But also, I sometimes think it can be helpful to have an external voice just to ask, “and why do you do it like that?” Sometimes there will be a great reason why, and sometimes just asking the question can open up a range of new possibilities.
You’ve spent much of your career working in communications across the charity sector. How has that experience shaped the way you approach leadership and storytelling in humanitarian work?
I believe now more than ever that good leadership means making sure you are bringing people along with you. You can make popular decisions and unpopular decisions, but if people understand why you’re making them, they are much more likely to do everything they can to help you make them a success.
For me, this puts communications at the heart of leadership and engaging stakeholders in strategic ways, but also through the power of human connection and storytelling. That powerful human instinct to care for each other is activated when people really see each other. There is nothing as powerful as people telling you their own experiences in their own ways and their own words. While this can be logistically complicated in an international organisation—how do you get the words from people in the right language, at the right time, to the right place, but when it works you can bridge continents and huge differences.
In your current role with the Disasters Emergency Committee, you help lead communications around major global appeals. What have these experiences taught you about the power of public engagement in times of crisis?
The Disasters Emergency Committee brings together 15 leading UK aid charities to raise funds quickly and efficiently at times of humanitarian crisis overseas. We launch national fundraising appeals with our partners, the five public broadcasters in the UK who show a short appeal film after the evening news on the day of launch.
While we can’t launch appeals for every crisis, when we do launch it’s when the UK public are already seeing scenes of suffering caused by the crisis in the news bulletins, in the newspapers and on social media. The DEC tries to appeal to people in those same places, to seek to be the answer to the question that people are already asking themselves: “what can I do to help?”
There is nothing like seeing the UK public respond so quickly, so generously every time we launch an appeal. It is always an indicator for me of how much people want to help each other.
What do you think makes the global St John community special?
Talking to people from the St John global community, I have almost come to expect them to talk of years and years of support to the organisation. I’m no longer surprised at people who have volunteered or been involved for 5, 10, 50 years! People find something in St John they want to be part of and stay part of.
What is the one thing you’d like St John people around the world to know about the work of TEC?
We are thinking about St John all over the world and what best serves One St John, from the smallest association to the largest Priory.
Outside of work, what helps you recharge and stay motivated?
Curiosity. Learning, asking, meeting!
