22 March 2018

As part of the Commonwealth Day celebration in March, The Order of St John Grand Prior, HRH Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester visited St John in Malawi to see their projects to improve health of the communities, including the Mother and Baby Programme.

The Secretary General of The Order of St John, Sir Paul Lambert and St John Malawi staff and volunteers welcomed the Duke of Gloucester, as well as the British High Commissioner to Malawi, Holly Tett.  

As part of the welcoming ceremony, St John Malawi held an inspection parade with a volunteer carrying a flag banner of Malawi and another one carrying the banner of The Order of St John. 

Commenting on the visit, the Duke of Gloucester said:

It is wonderful to see dedicated volunteers from St John Malawi who are working  very hard to save lives within the communities, in particular of new mothers and their new-born babies. The Mother and Baby programme, which was initially developed by St John in South Africa, has proved very effective in providing relevant care given by volunteers who have no resources to pay for modern medical advances.

As the Grand Prior of The Order, I hope to see further positive developments within these projects.