TRIBUTES have been paid to a St John Ambulance volunteer who devoted his life to the charity.

Long serving St John Ambulance volunteer, Tony Blomley, died recently at the age of 64.

Mr Blomley joined the charity as a cadet volunteer in Radcliffe in 1965 and went on to become leader of the Cadet Unit.

Working as a Staff Nurse at the Royal Bolton Hospital and, formerly, the North Manchester Hospital, Tony devoted much of his free time to St John Ambulance and held the role of Unit Manager for the Radcliffe Cadets.

He also played a pivotal role in the running of Prestwich Cadets.

Mr Blomley was also a prolific first aid trainer and taught hundreds of people in the local community vital first aid skills.

In 2009 Mr Blomley was given the royal seal of approval as he was invested of as a member of the Order of St John at a ceremony held in London.

The honour is given to people who have shown exceptional service to the organisation and each recipient is approved by the Queen.

His true passion however, was the development of the cadets and it is the young volunteers in Radcliffe and Prestwich who will miss his enthusiasm, encouragement and mentorship the most.

He was also an Officer of the Order of St John which is a Royal Order of Chivalry and each recipient is approved by Her Majesty the Queen, its Sovereign Head.

Peter Ward, also a St John Ambulance volunteer in Radcliffe said: “Tony was an absolute stalwart of the charity.

“He devoted so much of his life to the cadets and nothing gave him greater pleasure than to see them succeed in their efforts.

“He encouraged them to be the best they could be and instilled in them a caring community spirit. He will be very sadly missed.”

Julian Williams, district manager for St John Ambulance said: “It was with great sadness that we learned recently of the death of Tony, he truly embodied the ethos of St John Ambulance.

“He was passionate about ensuring the young volunteers in Radcliffe and Prestwich had the best possible training in first aid skills to enable them to go on and be life savers in the local community.”

Mr Blomley leaves behind a brother, David who has requested that anyone who wishes to do so should make a donation to St John Ambulance in his memory.