A CAMPAIGN has been launched to provide a £300,000 headquarters for a Teesside branch of St John Ambulance.

The Marske and Redcar branch of St John Ambulance started in a wooden hut off Station Road, Marske, after the Second World War.

In the early 1970s, it moved to a prefabricated building with only one large room and a surplus-to-requirements stage.

Now, volunteers are launching a campaign to raise the cash for a new base, which will improve the service and training the life-saving organisation can provide.

The building will replace the existing vandal-hit centre.

Division Superintendent Linda Haw said: "We have drawn up the plans, and we hope to introduce more modern technology and be able to offer things like televisions and computer link-ups.

"We are hoping to raise our profile and attract more volunteers."

Despite its limited resources, the branch provides volunteers for a range of events on Teesside and further afield.

A core group of about 20 attend any function that needs them, with the organisers only charged for any treatment that is carried out.

Mrs Haw said yesterday: "Because our building is old and is not 100 per cent secure, we dare not put in things like televisions.

"We have been broken into several times and been ransacked, and we have lost quite a lot of camping equipment.

"The cost of making it safe has been quite a drain on our resources, and the volunteers have got really disheartened."

The new building would be used to train local people as young as seven, including the disabled, in first aid techniques.

Mrs Haw said: "We have had a presence on the site for more than 50 years, and we hope the new building will be there for at least another 50 years to come."

Businesses and individuals are asked to donate money, equipment, or prizes for tombolas and raffles.

For further information, contact (01642) 488889.