Time for action
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| Volunteering changes lives. By getting involved with the Red Cross, young people not only learn valuable life lessons that enrich their personal development – they also make a material difference to other people’s lives in their own communities.
Last year, assisted by government funding, our humanitarian education programme went from strength to strength. A new youth volunteering charity v also pledged us almost £200,000 to create new volunteering opportunities.
In 2006, we recruited 236 peer educators to help run Red Cross projects and attracted hundreds of new young volunteers. We also trained 200 school speakers to give presentations on challenging themes – such as child soldiers and refugees – at schools across the UK. And we provided specialist support to 500 teachers to help them promote citizenship issues in the classroom.
Our education website also developed significantly – visitor numbers tripled over the last year – and almost 1,700 teachers now regularly use our education resources in the classroom.
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Amy's a life-saver
Luckily, when a birthday celebration went horribly wrong, young first aider Amy Ireland was on hand to save her friend’s life.
The 18-year-old student from Maidstone acted fast after her friend suffered an extreme allergic reaction to a drink. After making sure someone had called for an ambulance, Amy immediately put her training to good use.
She recalled: “It was scary but my instinct took over. I knew she might die if I didn’t act. I gave her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation until finally she started coughing, which was a huge relief.”
“If I hadn’t known what to do, my friend could have died. It is scary to think about it.”
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