Introducing the British Red Cross

The British Red Cross helps people in crisis, whoever and wherever they are.

INTRODUCING THE BRITISH RED CROSS

Photos on opposite page: © Chris Saville/UNP Who we are The British Red Cross helps people in crisis, whoever and wherever they are. We are part , © ICRC, © Der of a global network of volunteers and staff, responding to natural disasters, conflicts and ek Gor individual emergencies. don. Photo on this page: © Mark Passmor We help vulnerable people in the UK and abroad prepare for, withstand and recover from emergencies in their own communities. Key facts e/Apex. > We are the UK’s leading > We are part of the International emergency response charity. Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, which works in > We have around 3,500 staff and 188 countries and has around 32,500 volunteers. 13.1 million volunteers worldwide. > We help more than a million people in the UK every year, and many more around the world. I feel I’m not only helping individual people, but helping the Red Cross and society in general Ed Owen, care in the home volunteer, Plymouth

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The fire could have Photos on opposite page: © Layton Thompson/BRC, © Sean W killed me, so it was really nice to have the Red Cross there. I want to say thank you for their help and support Peter Tibbitts, Edgbaston ilton/Manchester Evening News, © Phil Hill/UNP . Photo on this page: © Christopher Furlong/Getty Images. Emergency response Every year we respond to thousands of emergencies in the As parts of the UK UK, playing a key role supporting the emergency services. were hit by serious From floods and heavy snow to house fires and transport flooding in summer 2012, Red accidents, we are ready to respond. Cross volunteers and staff helped the emergency services evacuate homes across the country. From West Sussex to North Wales, our teams helped Key facts get people out of homes that were flooded or at risk, and transport them to rest centres. > In 2011, our volunteers and staff > We have many emergency We also provided support at a hospital in Aberystwyth for responded to 4,200 emergency response partnerships around people who had fled their homes, including a lady in her call-outs in the UK. the UK, including with fire and 80s who had lost everything when her bungalow flooded. rescue services, ambulance And as heavy rain turned the Isle of Wight Festival into a > We helped 27,000 people in an services and local authorities. mudbath, Red Cross teams helped the emergency services emergency in 2011. care for hundreds of revellers affected by the bad weather. redcross.org.uk/emergencyresponseuk

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The fire could have Photos on opposite page: © Layton Thompson/BRC, © Sean W killed me, so it was really nice to have the Red Cross there. I want to say thank you for their help and support Peter Tibbitts, Edgbaston ilton/Manchester Evening News, © Phil Hill/UNP . Photo on this page: © Christopher Furlong/Getty Images. Emergency response Every year we respond to thousands of emergencies in the As parts of the UK UK, playing a key role supporting the emergency services. were hit by serious From floods and heavy snow to house fires and transport flooding in summer 2012, Red accidents, we are ready to respond.Cross volunteers and staff helped the emergency services evacuate homes across the country. From West Sussex to North Wales, our teams helped Key factsget people out of homes that were flooded or at risk, and transport them to rest centres. > In 2011, our volunteers and staff > We have many emergency We also provided support at a hospital in Aberystwyth for responded to 4,200 emergency response partnerships around people who had fled their homes, including a lady in her call-outs in the UK.the UK, including with fire and 80s who had lost everything when her bungalow flooded. rescue services, ambulance And as heavy rain turned the Isle of Wight Festival into a > We helped 27,000 people in an services and local authorities. mudbath, Red Cross teams helped the emergency services emergency in 2011.care for hundreds of revellers affected by the bad weather. redcross.org.uk/emergencyresponseuk

Photo on opposite page: © Dr Shaheen Ahmed/BRC. Photos on this page: © Matthew Per First aid education We train around 370,000 people in first aid in the UK every year, preparing them to cope with accidents and emergencies in the home, at work or out and about. Our volunteers also provide first aid cover at thousands of public events across the country. Key facts cival/BRC, © Jonathan Banks, © Justin Grainge/BRC. > 90 per cent of people who take > 30,000 people are given first aid our first aid courses feel more at public events by our volunteers confident in using first aid skills. each year. > 76 per cent are more willing to > More than 300,000 people have use those skills in an emergency. downloaded our first aid app for smartphones. > Around 61,000 of the people we train each year are from, or work with, vulnerable groups. When Sayma’s three-year-old daughter started choking and couldn’t breathe, the young mother was terrified – but her Red Cr oss first aid training kicked in. She started to slap her daughter on the back until she was breathing again. She said: “Thank goodness I had completed the Red Cross first aid course, as the knowledge was still fresh in my mind. I just stopped panicking and in less than a minute she was okay again.” Sayma is just one of many people each year who use first aid training provided by the Red Cross to save lives – often helping friends or family. redcross.org.uk/firstaid

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I was so impressed Photos on opposite page: © Layton Thompson/BRC, © Patrick Harrison, © Carla Dow/BRC. Photo on this page: ©Carla Dow/BRC. by the service, I called to volunteer to give something back Bill, 69, who was helped by care in the home volunteers after his heart attack. Health and social care We help thousands of people across the UK keep their independence by providing short-term support after a hospital stay – or by preventing admission in the first place. Beryl, 87, spent a Our services include care in the home, medical equipment, month in hospital after a transport and therapeutic care. fall while walking home from the shops. Settling back into her normal routine was a challenge, as her husband also had limited mobility and she had Key facts no relatives nearby who could provide support. > Our volunteers and staff helped > 34,000 vulnerable people used Red Cross volunteer Angela visited Beryl at least twice a 397,000 people in the UK in 2011 our transport service in 2011 to week for the next month, to help her regain her confidence through our health and social care reach medical appointments or and mobility. She helped Beryl start walking again and services. run errands. helped around the house by running errands. Beryl said: “Without the Red Cross, I don’t know what I > We loaned 75,000 wheelchairs would have done. I had a lot of confidence at the end of the to people to help them stay four weeks. When Angela finished her visits, I continued independent in 2011. going out and about by myself.” redcross.org.uk/uksocialcare

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I was so impressed Photos on opposite page: © Layton Thompson/BRC, © Patrick Harrison, © Carla Dow/BRC. Photo on this page: ©Carla Dow/BRC. by the service, I called to volunteer to give something back Bill, 69, who was helped by care in the home volunteers after his heart attack. Health and social care We help thousands of people across the UK keep their independence by providing short-term support after a hospital stay – or by preventing admission in the first place. Beryl, 87, spent a Our services include care in the home, medical equipment, month in hospital after a transport and therapeutic care.fall while walking home from the shops. Settling back into her normal routine was a challenge, as her husband also had limited mobility and she had Key factsno relatives nearby who could provide support. > Our volunteers and staff helped > 34,000 vulnerable people used Red Cross volunteer Angela visited Beryl at least twice a 397,000 people in the UK in 2011 our transport service in 2011 to week for the next month, to help her regain her confidence through our health and social care reach medical appointments or and mobility. She helped Beryl start walking again and services.run errands.helped around the house by running errands. Beryl said: “Without the Red Cross, I don’t know what I > We loaned 75,000 wheelchairs would have done. I had a lot of confidence at the end of the to people to help them stay four weeks. When Angela finished her visits, I continued independent in 2011.going out and about by myself.” redcross.org.uk/uksocialcare

Photos on opposite page: © Olav Saltbones, © Ibrahim Malla/Syrian Red Cr International emergency response The British Red Cross responds to natural disasters and conflicts around the world, working with the rest of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. Key facts escent, © M. Al-Zuabi/ICRC. Photo on this page: © Sarah Oughton/BRC. > Recent emergency appeals > We maintain a Disaster Fund have raised vital funds to help so that money can be released people suffering from drought immediately when a disaster and famine in east and west strikes – in 2012, the fund Africa, and people affected by was used in South Sudan, conflict in Syria. Afghanistan, Mozambique and Burkina Faso, among > As of 2012, we are still working in other countries. Haiti, helping the country recover from the devastating 2010 earthquake by building housing, providing water and sanitation, and helping people restore their livelihoods. Ouilimatou is 21 months old. He lives in the Sahel region of Burkina Faso, where lack of rain, drought and insect infestation led to poor harvests in 2012. His mother got sick and gave him to his grandmother Fatima to look after. Fatima brought Ouilimatou to the Red Cross health post in her remote village, where volunteers gave him a vitamin and mineral-enhanced porridge to help improve his health and referred him to the nearest health centre for more intensive treatment. Many women in the Hers is one of 23 villages in the region with a Red Cross health post village now want to join to treat malnourished children. the group as they see how Our West Africa Food Crisis Appeal funded food supplies and much it profits us healthcare across the region, as well as helping improve immigration and farming techniques to minimise the impact of future droughts. Oroukia, who works in a community redcross.org.uk/currentemergencies garden in Burkina Faso

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Photos on opposite page: © Olav Saltbones, © Ibrahim Malla/Syrian Red Cr International emergency response The British Red Cross responds to natural disasters and conflicts around the world, working with the rest of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. Key facts escent, © M. Al-Zuabi/ICRC. Photo on this page: © Sarah Oughton/BRC. > Recent emergency appeals > We maintain a Disaster Fund have raised vital funds to help so that money can be released people suffering from drought immediately when a disaster and famine in east and west strikes – in 2012, the fund Africa, and people affected by was used in South Sudan, conflict in Syria.Afghanistan, Mozambique and Burkina Faso, among > As of 2012, we are still working in other countries. Haiti, helping the country recover from the devastating 2010 earthquake by building housing, providing water and sanitation, and helping people restore their livelihoods. Ouilimatou is 21 months old. He lives in the Sahel region of Burkina Faso, where lack of rain, drought and insect infestation led to poor harvests in 2012. His mother got sick and gave him to his grandmother Fatima to look after. Fatima brought Ouilimatou to the Red Cross health post in her remote village, where volunteers gave him a vitamin and mineral-enhanced porridge to help improve his health and referred him to the nearest health centre for more intensive treatment. Many women in the Hers is one of 23 villages in the region with a Red Cross health post village now want to join to treat malnourished children. the group as they see how Our West Africa Food Crisis Appeal funded food supplies and much it profits us healthcare across the region, as well as helping improve immigration and farming techniques to minimise the impact of future droughts. Oroukia, who works in a community redcross.org.uk/currentemergencies garden in Burkina Faso

Photo on opposite page: © Ziv Kor Other international programmes en/BRC. Photos on this page: © Marko Kokic/ICRC, © Sarah Oughton/BRC. As well as preparing for and responding to emergencies, we also support longer term Red Cross and Red Crescent programmes around the world, helping communities tackle health and social crises. Key facts > We worked on programmes > Our main areas of work include across 16 countries in 2011, HIV, tuberculosis, water and including South Africa, Sierra sanitation, post-conflict care and Leone and Kyrgyzstan. community healthcare. For many women in Lesotho, the joy of finding out they are pregnant is tempered by the fear that they will pass HIV on to their baby. Matumelo and her husband both tested positive for HIV, and were visited by Red Cross volunteer Mamofela. She helped Matumelo to accept her status and cope with the disease, as well as giving her the support she needed to tell her friends and family. She then guided Matumelo through her pregnancy, attending her local clinic and getting the treatment and care she needed to avoid passing the disease on to her unborn child. redcross.org.uk/overseas

Photos on opposite page: © Jonathan Banks, © Anthony Upton/BRC, © Bob Collier/BRC. © Photo on this page: © W Refugee services We provide vital support to vulnerable refugees and asylum seekers in the UK, helping them access services and adjust to life in a new country. We also reunite families separated by conflict or disaster. Key facts > Our volunteers and staff helped > Many of our volunteers are 35,000 refugees and asylum refugees themselves and speak a seekers in 2011. wide range of languages. > 22,300 of those we helped > We opened 610 new tracing (64 per cent) were destitute. cases in 2011 to help separated athiq Khuzaie/Getty Images. families get back in touch. When Almaz fled her home in Ethiopia in fear of her life, she didn’t know if she’d ever see her husband and four daughters again. As she was going through the asylum process, she received orientation support from the Red Cross and also asked us to help trace her daughters. It took about ten months for us to find her two youngest daughters and Almaz was reunited with them at Heathrow Airport. Almaz said: “I couldn’t believe it. We were all crying and screaming. It was a very happy moment. The Red Cross’ support is really good and I was comforted and encouraged a lot through this time.” We were later able to reunite Almaz with her two other daughters, who were living in Kenya, and have now joined her in the UK. redcross.org.uk/refugee

Photos on opposite page: © Theo Moye/Apex, © Simon Ridgway/UNP Humanitarian education In an increasingly complex world, we recognise how important it is for children and young people to have a greater understanding of humanitarian issues. That’s why we work closely with schools across the UK, helping them provide valuable education on a range of local and global issues. , Photo on this page: © Simon Ridgway/UNP Key facts > 183,300 children and > 20 percent of our volunteers in young people learned about the UK are aged 18-26. humanitarian issues and international humanitarian > We can provide trained school law through our education speakers on a range of topics, . programmes in 2011. including child soldiers and humanitarian law. redcross.org.uk/education I’ve been with the Red Cross for two years now. You get a lot out of it, and it provides a chance to get work with some really great people. Robert MacLean, 16, first aid volunteer, Skye

Photos on opposite page: © Theo Moye/Apex, © Simon Ridgway/UNP Humanitarian education In an increasingly complex world, we recognise how important it is for children and young people to have a greater understanding of humanitarian issues. That’s why we work closely with schools across the UK, helping them provide valuable education on a range of local and global issues. , Photo on this page: © Simon Ridgway/UNP Key facts > 183,300 children and > 20 percent of our volunteers in young people learned about the UK are aged 18-26. humanitarian issues and international humanitarian > We can provide trained school law through our education speakers on a range of topics, . programmes in 2011.including child soldiers and humanitarian law. redcross.org.uk/education I’ve been with the Red Cross for two years now. You get a lot out of it, and it provides a chance to get work with some really great people. Robert MacLean, 16, first aid volunteer, Skye

Photo: © Nick Strugnell/UNP Get involved . All the work we do is only made possible by our supporters, who generously give their time or money to ensure we keep on making a difference for people in crisis. There are lots of ways you can help. Volunteer The Red Cross is a voluntary organisation and our 32,500 UK volunteers are key to our ability to deliver our services. We have a huge variety of volunteering opportunities available, so you should find something that suits your skills, your interests and the time you have to give. redcross.org.uk/volunteer Leave us a gift in your will Help safeguard our vital work for the future by remembering us in your will. You can do this either by making a simple addition to your existing will or by including a gift in a future will. redcross.org.uk/legacy Take part in an event Fancy abseiling from a tall building, running a marathon or organising a fancy dress party? There are tons of fun ways you can raise money for us. redcross.org.uk/events Give goods to our shops Convert unwanted clothes, books, CDs and household items into vital funds by donating them to one of our Red Cross shops. There are more than 300 across the UK. redcross.org.uk/charityshops There’s never been a time when the Red Cross is not needed, locally or globally Margery, fundraising volunteer

British Red Cross 44 Moorfields London EC2Y 9AL Tel 0844 871 1111 Fax 020 7562 2000 redcross.org.uk Ref No: PEP1070 Published 2012 The British Red Cross Society, incorporated by Royal Charter 1908, is a charity registered in England and Wales (220949) and Scotland (SC037738) Email: [email protected] Cover photo: © Anthony Upton/BRC Tel: 020 7877 7029