Find out more about the tremendous role our volunteers and staff have played in the last 140 years.
If you can't find what you're looking for, please contact us at enquiry@redcross.org.uk
Foundation of the British Red Cross
Find out about how we began in 1870.
Our Royal Charter
Find out more about our Royal Charter, which was granted in 1908.
The 1949 Geneva Conventions
Learn more about the fourth Geneva Convention, passed in 1949.
Founding of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
The International Federation was founded in 1919. Find out more about its origins.
British Red Cross Overseas Branches
Find details of when our Overseas Branches – in British Overseas Territories – formed and when they became independent.
The Battle of Solferino
Henry Dunant, the founder of the Red Cross Movement, came up with the idea of national relief organisations when he saw the aftermath of this horrific battle.
The Boer wars
Find out how the British Red Cross helped wounded soldiers during the second Boer war in South Africa, including by providing the first purpose-built hospital train.
Auxiliary hospitals during the wars
Find out about the auxiliary hospitals we provided for wounded and ill soldiers during the First and Second World Wars.
First World War gallery
View a selection of photographs illustrating our work in the First World War.
Armistice celebrations
Discover how British Red Cross volunteers celebrated the armistice after the First World War.
Second World War photo gallery
See a selection of photographs illustrating our work in the Second World War.
The Changi quilts
Read the moving story of civilians interned in Singapore during the Second World War, and the personal record women internees left on the quilts they made.
Channel Islands relief in the Second World War
When Germany occupied the Channel Islands during the Second World War, islanders relied on the Red Cross for food and communciations with the UK.
Food parcels
Discover how volunteers organised 20 million food parcels sent from the UK to prisoners of war during the Second World War.
Emergency response photo gallery
See pictures of how we have responded to significant emergencies in the UK, from floods to rail crashes.
Emergency transport
Find out about the development of our different types of transport, from the first motorised ambulances to hospital trains and ships.
Health and social care | Top |
Interwar photo gallery
See a selection of photographs illustrating our health and social care work in the years between the world wars.
Blood transfusion
Percy Lane Oliver, one of the Red Cross' volunteers, started Britain's first blood donor panel in 1921.
Spanish influenza
The Spanish flu pandemic, which hit Europe in 1918-1919, changed our work forever. Find out how.
Health and social care services in the UK
Learn about our welfare and UK services after the National Health Service was established.
Origins of the medical equipment service
Find out about the development of our medical equipment service, which provides short-term loans of wheelchairs and other equipment so people can get out and about.
Hospitals and nursing
Read about the hospitals and special homes the Red Cross ran after the establishment of the National Health Service.
Volunteering and personalities | Top |
1909 scheme for the organisation of voluntary aid detachments
This scheme defined our role in helping the government during wartime by training volunteers to supplement the territory medical service.
Building early race relations
Find out about a visitor from one of the British Red Cross' former Overseas Branches – the Gold Coast Branch – and how he helped introduce British people to another culture.
Hidden history
Discover more about how lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered volunteers have helped their communities through our history.
Junior Red Cross
Read about the juniors' section of the British Red Cross, which officially began in 1924.
Florence Nightingale
This famous nurse was an active supporter of the British Red Cross from its founding. Read about how her work inspired the founder of the Red Cross Movement, Henry Dunant.
Royal family Red Cross supporters
The royal family has been involved with the Red Cross from our founding. Find out how. | 
