| Team leader Trisha Earp (49), from Bradfield near Reading, said: “The largest influx of people is expected over the next few days so the team will have to hit the ground running, get on with the work and be happy to do anything and everything.
“We are there to help on the practical side. Our role is to look out for vulnerable people, whether that’s people with children, elderly relatives or people who have been through a lot.
“Half of the team have been on deployments before, while the others, because of their backgrounds, are good at organising, good at talking, and good at providing support to people,” she said.
The delegates are going to Cyprus at the request of the FCO, which is responsible for providing consular assistance to Britons overseas. The British Red Cross has trained volunteers on standby to offer practical help and emotional support to people affected by tragedies overseas. In this role it recently sent support to assist Britons affected by the boat capsize in Bahrain and the Dahab bombings in Egypt.
Case study
Speaking in September, Eleanor Payton, from Newbury, Berkshire was one of thousands of British nationals evacuated from Lebanon when the conflict erupted. The 25-year-old had been working north of Beirut for more than a year.
“It didn’t feel like a country on the verge of war,” she said. “I was enjoying my job and going out for dinner and to the beach - just every day life there. I was back in the UK eight days after the start of the war. It was very surreal.”
Eleanor was evacuated on board the HMS York from Beirut to Cyprus where British Red Cross support workers met her.
“They were checking if we needed anything and gave us water and mobile phones to call home. We all really appreciated the Red Cross being there,” she said.
Eleanor then flew back to Britain where her mother and brother met her at the airport.
“I got quite upset when I arrived back, I think it all hit me then what had happened. The Red Cross was there again at the airport, which was very comforting.” | 
