'THIS weekend we celebrated St Andrew’s Day and, fittingly, it comes at the end of a month which includes Scottish First Aid Week. Fittingly, because Scotland’s leading volunteer first aid organisation bears our patron Saint’s name.

As part of Scottish First Aid Week, St Andrew’s First Aid host their annual Scottish First Aid Awards and I was delighted to learn that a primary six pupil from Crossgates Primary School, in my constituency, was named as Community First Aid Champion,

Alfie Thomson was unanimously voted the winner by a panel of judges. He was honoured for his actions and attitude to first aid and for his role in teaching CPR to more than 100 fellow pupils from P5 to P7, supporting them in becoming life savers too.

With ambitions to become a paramedic, Alfie has attended a Junior First Aid and CPR course, learned other skills through YouTube and qualified as a Junior Lifeguard. Each day, he sets up a first aid station in the playground at school and brings in a first aid kit in case anyone hurts themselves.

Alfie first began his training during a school health week. Off his own back and in his own time, he sourced CPR dummies, planned his sessions, found relevant videos to use as visual aids and created a power point and FAQ document.

As Stuart Callison, chief executive of St Andrew’s First Aid, said, “Alfie epitomises the very essence of a first aid champion. His commitment, initiative, drive and determination to learn first aid and to teach others the skills to save a life are exceptional and he stood out in the category as an absolute winner. He should be very proud of what he has achieved and we are delighted to present him with his award.”

Alfie, his family, and his teachers can indeed be very proud of his achievements. Inspired by his award, I lodged a motion in the Scottish Parliament congratulating him and commending the way in which he has learned proactively and willingly shared his skills with others. That is definitely an example we could all follow.

Indeed, if anyone is interested in following in Alfie’s footsteps in becoming a First Aider, St Andrew’s First Aid is always on the lookout for Volunteers, who they describe as the lifeblood of their charity, people who dedicate thousands of hours to providing vital life-saving education and first aid support at events around the country.

Their Volunteers are trained to deal with incidents and injuries ranging from cuts and bruises to cardiac arrests, and deliver community talks and demonstrations, fundraise for projects, run youth programmes and provide first aid cover at events across Scotland. Find out more by going online and checking out their website at fistaid.org.uk'.