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Red Cross in the news

A FESS volunteer in action©InfoRed Cross projects, staff and volunteers are often in the news. Here are some of the best stories from the British and international media.

June 2011

Congo refugee Lilas makes time to help the needy, Plymouth Herald, 23 June 2011

While juggling her hectic life with that of a young mum, Lilas is also a volunteer community first aid educator with the British Red Cross. She provides first aid training to vulnerable groups in the community. During Refugee Week, which launched today and runs until Sunday, the British Red Cross is urging people to find out more about the positive contributions refugees are making to life in the UK.

 

Family united in Manchester after seven years , BBC, 22 June 2011
A man who fled to the UK from Zimbabwe has been reunited with his family, seven years after he last saw them. They will all live in a one-bedroom flat in Salford initially, and be supported by the Red Cross.

 

Cheques are more important to fundraisers than mobile phone , Third Sector , 20 June 2011 
The British Red Cross director of fundraising says cheques are more important for fundraising than mobile phones.

Sir Nicholas Young joins select group of Outstanding Leaders, Civil Society - 10 June 2011   
Sir Nicholas Young, chief executive of the British Red Cross, was unveiled as this year’s winner of the Outstanding Leadership Award at the Charity Awards in London last night.

Profile: Sir Nicholas Young, Civil Society - 10 June 2011
The chief executive of the British Red Cross is the judges’ choice for the 2011 Outstanding Leadership Award.  Tania Mason finds out why.

May 2011

Choking: 'I thought she was dying' , Independent - Tuesday 24 May 2011

When her daughter started choking, the terrifying few minutes that followed showed Kate Hilpern just how unprepared we are for this common emergency. She shares the lifesaving advice every parent should know.

Could an empty chip packet save your life? , Daily Express - Tuesday 17 May 2011

When it comes to applying basic first aid, thinking on your feet could be the difference between life and death. Joe Mulligan, head of first aid at the British Red Cross, says: “People tend to think they need all sorts of special equipment when someone hurts themselves but there are life-savers hiding in everyone’s home.”

Working in the heart of a bloodless revolution, Sheffield Star - Thursday 12 May 2011

Retired Sheffield nurse, midwife and health visitor Gwen Wilson left the comfort of her Hunters Bar home to spend four weeks helping refugees in camps on the border between Libya and Tunisia with the British Red Cross. Here is her letter home.

 Two months on, Japan starts £143bn recovery, Guardian - Thursday 12 May 2011

Japan set to make traumatic leap from being one of world’s biggest aid donors to one of biggest recipients. A fleet of bulldozers and cranes have started clearing rubble. Taderteru Konoe, Red Cross president, talks about the challenges for Japan. The Japan Red Cross has received £2.2bn.

A Paisley man’s life saved by quick-thinking Red Cross volunteer , Paisley Daily Express - Friday 6 May 2011

A caring pensioner has told how lending a helping hand at a charity event almost turned out to be his final act of kindness.

Robert Bolt was among a group of volunteers working at the Christmas fayre organised by Paisley’s ACCORD Hospice – but his good intentions almost ended in tragedy when he collapsed as he helped to set up tables at one of the stalls.

 

April 2011

 Ivory Coast: Red Cross warns of humanitarian crisis, BBC - Wednesday 13 April 2011

The Red Cross is warning that the humanitarian crisis in Ivory Coast is not over, despite the arrest of former President Laurent Gbagbo.

Food and water are said to be scarce and 100,000 people are reported to have headed to the Liberian border, as David Peppiatt from the British Red Cross explains.

Japan: Sunderland Nissan staff support Japan relief, BBC - Monday 11 April 2011

A major relief effort is under way and money raised by Sunderland staff will be donated to the British Red Cross.

Japan: Search continues for lost Britons, BBC - Monday 11 April 2011

The British Red Cross has topped £6m, which will help the Japanese branch of the organisation fit out prefabricated house with rice cookers, microwaves and kettles.

March 2011

Japan: Humanitarian need must take precedence over politics, Politics.co.uk -Tuesday 29 March 2011

Helping people survive in the face of disaster should never be conditional, writes Sir Nick Young of the British Red Cross

February 2011

London to Sydney taxi ride aims to break world record, BBC - Tuesday 16 February 2011

Three friends are aiming to complete the longest ever journey in a taxi with a charity ride from London to Sydney. The trio aim to break the world record by driving a black cab 30,000 miles (48,280 km) across 37 countries in support of the British Red Cross.

January 2011

Flood victims still need help, Waltham Forest Guardian - Monday 24 January 2011

Six months after devastating floods hit Pakistan, a Walthamstow woman is helping families from the worst-hit region get back on their feet.

Penny's visit to Pakistan, Bristol Evening Post - Monday 24 January 2011

A British Red Cross employee who grew up in Bristol is in Pakistan to see how people are coping six months after floods left millions without homes, food or an income.

Man rescues family from house fire in Omagh, BBC - 22 January 2011

"The Red Cross fire and emergency support service will now help the family go about getting somewhere to stay."

December 2010

What happened next? The destitute asylum seeker, The Guardian - Monday 27 December

In June, Abdi was living rough on a weekly £10 food voucher from the Red Cross. Has his life improved since then?

Red Cross local heroes step in to respond to snow in Scotland, Channel 4 News - Wednesday 8 December

November 2010

The aid worker Haiti's homeless kids call 'Mummy', The Sun - Thursday 24 November

Charity crusade, ITV Granada Reports - Sunday 21 November

Cameron Foster won our 2010 Humanitarian Citizen Award. Watch a video to see his inspiring story.

 Asylum seekers: Britain has let us down , CNN - Monday 21 November

The British Red Cross says 200,000 failed asylum seekers in Britain are destitute, hungry and vulnerable. In this story,  four failed asylum seekers describe how they travelled to England and how they survive

Hopes fade of avoiding epidemic as cholera hits Port-au-Prince, The Independent - Thursday 11 November

Hopes of stopping Haiti's cholera outbreak from turning into an epidemic were fading yesterday, as the disease has begun to infect residents of the densely populated tent cities of Port-au-Prince, where more than a million homeless people are still living as a result of January's earthquake.

October 2010

Audio slideshow: Andie Khupe: from Zimbabwe to England, Alertnet - Friday 15 October

As part of AlertNet's series profiling elderly people around the world, we visit 60-year-old Andie Khupe who has fled her home country Zimbabwe and now lives in the northern British city of Leeds. Khupe does voluntary work at a British Red Cross drop-in centre for destitute refugees and asylum-seekers and is also studying for a social care qualification.

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