St John Ambulance in the Northern Territory is saying goodbye to Noel and Liz Talbot who are leaving Alice Springs to live in South Australia. Noel has worked for St John for the past fifteen years as the Sales Consultant and he is well known throughout Central Australia in communities, small towns and the cattle stations.

He always knew where to go for fresh scones and morning tea.

Both Noel and Liz made such an incredible impact on St John in the Northern Territory and contributed countless hours volunteering their time for their community.

Last Friday was Noel’s last day and as it was Children’s Week both Noel and Liz ran the sausage sizzle for all the children. This has been an annual activity for the past eleven years that St John has been involved with.

Staff, family and friends attended a wonderful dinner at the Elkira Motel and presented them with a digital photo frame.

St John Chairman, Mike Mooney and CEO, Ross Coburn travelled to Alice Springs to attend a special dinner to thank both Noel and Liz.

Ross Coburn presented them with a beautiful landscape painting of Central Australia.

They will be missed by their many friends and colleagues throughout the Northern Territory. 

For those of you who didn’t have the pleasure of knowing Noel this is a little bit of information.

Noel was employed by the South Australian Railways for 37 years f rom 1958 to 1995. After living in Peterborough for 9 years he moved to Alice Springs for a promotion with the railways. After 8 years he left the railways and was employed by St John.

He first joined St John Ambulance in 1980 in South Australia as a private member. After transferring to Alice Springs in 1991 he was promoted to Divisional Superintendent of the Alice Springs Adult Division. He held several leadership roles and was Territory Officer Cadets for eight years.

I asked Noel what he liked most about St John:
“I enjoy every aspect of St John – the friendship and fellowship with members of St John and being in a position to help my community. My work with cadets gave me a great sense of satisfaction and pride.”

I then asked him about his most memorable St John moment:
“In the course of my work and travelling many thousands of kilometres each year throughout the Territory I often came upon situations that called on my first aid skills. A vivid memory is coming across an accident in a remote area of the Territory where a car had rolled with the two occupants trapped inside. With the assistance of a remote area nurse we worked on them for four hours until the Royal Flying Doctor arrived.”

Although they will be leaving the NT they will be re-joining St John in South Australia once they have settled into their new home.

Thank you Noel and Liz and we hope to see you back in the NT in the near future. Enjoy your retirement.

Article by Gwyn Balch