The St. John Ambulance Brigade has plans for expansion, but work still needs to be done to fund those plans.

Tony Goodfellow, chairman of the Brigade, yesterday told the Hamilton Rotary Club that they hope to build a new headquarters and develop a marine unit, but are being held back by high expenses in a difficult economic climate.

By building a new headquarters, the charity hopes to rent out its existing Point Finger Road headquarters to the medical profession, providing a steady source of income.

"If we can do that, hopefully it means we won't have to take to the streets with cap in hand quite as often," he said.

"It's worth bearing in mind that it costs over $400 just to put an ambulance on the road every time one goes out. Sadly, it is difficult to extract money, and it is not always easy for the smaller sports clubs and other users of our services to make a contribution to costs.

"We are the only charity on the Island that provides an ambulance service, and often provide support for the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital ambulances."

The St. John Ambulance Brigade attends around 350 events every year, including Cup Match, the Bermuda Music Festival, parades and numerous sporting events.

When Hurricane Igor struck over the weekend, the charity was actively helping the community in St. George's.

"We were present from early Sunday morning, and our ambulance crew attended everything from heart problems to scratches and bruises from those that chose to go outside and suffered for it," he said.

In total, volunteers and staff put forward around 4,000 man-hours of work every year.

Mr. Goodfellow said that the charity has around 70 volunteers, due in large part to people deferring service at the Regiment.

He said: "Our relationship with the Regiment must inevitably be close, and we have made significant improvements over the last year, although it is difficult to keep those people at the end of three years."

Funding for the charity comes in part from a Government Grant (which Mr. Goodfellow said was recently reduced to $40,000), tag days and sponsorship.

"We have been extremely fortunate over the last four years to have acquired one ambulance thanks to ACE, XL and Bacardi, and more recently a unique ambulance thanks to Chartis — unique as it has space for two stretchers and three wheelchairs, including a mechanical lift," he said.