Driving change: London Ambulance Service celebrates first female mechanic

London Ambulance Service is celebrating its first female mechanic this International Women’s Day – a trailblazer who is helping keep the capital’s life-saving fleet on the road.

Charlotte Stanford, 38, joined the Service as an apprentice over a year ago. She had just left a desk job in corporate PR and had never done a manual job before.

She said: “I knew I wanted to do something different and I didn’t want to be behind a desk anymore. And while I had no experience with cars, I have always been good at fixing things.

“I knew I wanted more purpose in what I was doing. I wanted to do something where I was giving back to my community.

“Now, when I fix a vehicle and get it back on the road, I know it’s going out to help someone and could save a life. That’s a really nice feeling.”

Charlotte is based at Fulham Ambulance Station and works in one of the Service’s in-house workshops. She combines hands-on practical work with online learning.

The team services and MOTs ambulances and response cars and carries out repairs to ensure crews can respond to patients across London.

She said: “When something is wrong with an ambulance, you are looking at all the symptoms – what it sounds like, what it looks like, even the smell.

“We will start to investigate and try to work out the cause. A bit like a paramedic does with a patient.

“You use your experience, your senses and the diagnostic tools to piece it together and get to the root of the problem. And then we fix it.”

Whether it’s a faulty turbo or general wear and tear, her focus is always on getting vehicles back in gear and safely returned to frontline duty as quickly as possible.

She says attention to detail is vital, particularly as ambulances are such a visible and trusted part of the NHS.

Charlotte said: “We are always mindful of the responsibility we carry. We don’t just fix the engines, we are responsible for maintaining much of the equipment too – like the stretchers, the chairs, the sirens and the blue lights.

“People see ambulances out on the road every day and we are always conscious of keeping our crews and our patients safe. We take a lot of pride in what we do because we know how important these vehicles are.”

Charlotte is currently the only woman in the mechanic team – something she hopes will change in the future.

While she may be the first in the Service’s modern workshop, women have long played a role in keeping London’s ambulances running.

During the Second World War, women in the Auxiliary Ambulance Service cared for Londoners during the Blitz.

Alongside driving and treating patients, many learned to carry out their own mechanical repairs, maintaining vehicles in challenging and often dangerous conditions.

After the war, women were encouraged to step aside for returning servicemen.

By 1965 – when London Ambulance Service as we know it today – was launched, just six per cent of the workforce were women.

Today, half of all staff at London Ambulance Service are women including Charlotte, who is blazing a trail in a male-dominated industry.

She said: “I’m proud to be part of a team that keeps London moving and safe every day. I would love more women to join our team. It’s such a rewarding and fulfilling job and women should never doubt that they can do this work too.”

For more information about career opportunities at London Ambulance Service visit our careers page on our website.