Skip to main content
British Red Cross logo
DONATE
  • Back
  • Get help
    • Get help
    • Coronavirus
    • Hire a wheelchair
    • Hire a toilet aid
    • Support line
    • Support at home
    • Help with loneliness
    • Find missing family
    • Help for refugees
    • Help for young refugees
    • Help with money problems
    • Prepare for emergencies
  • Get involved
    • Get involved
    • Donate
    • Volunteer
    • Fundraising and events
    • Partner with us
    • Coronavirus
    • Teaching resources
    • Jobs
  • First aid
    • First aid
    • Learn first aid skills
    • Baby and child first aid
    • Do a first aid course
    • Find a first aid venue
    • Teach first aid
    • Buy a first aid kit
  • About us
    • About us
    • What we do
    • How we're run
    • What we stand for
    • News, media and research
    • Our history
    • Contact us
  • Shop
    • Shop
    • Find a charity shop
    • Donate goods
    • Volunteer in our shops
    • Furniture and electrics
    • Online shop
    • Independent living products
    • Visit our eBay shop
    • Our ASOS vintage shop
    • Books
    • Wedding dresses
    • Vintage and designer clothes
  • Stories
    • Stories
    • Health and social care
    • Migration and displacement
    • Disasters and emergencies
    • Our Movement

Our history

  • Story
  • Article
A photograph of a woman in Bangladesh wearing a Red Crescent vest and pink scarf, smiling at the camera.

10 things you might not know about the Red Cross

The Red Cross has been around for 150 years - think you know everything about us? We bet you're wrong...

Story
3 minutes
150th animation

150 year of British Red Cross volunteers

The people who have shaped our organisation

Story
4 minutes
A Christmas card with violet flowers in the middle and the phrase 'Good fortune' on the outer edges, handmade by Florence Nightingale.

A Christmas card from Florence Nightingale

From our archives, a handmade Christmas card from a legendary nurse.

Article
4 minutes
In this piece by the artist Banksy, a child plays with a basket of superhero toys, and is seen lifting a doll dressed as a Red Cross nurse through the air

Why do older images of nurses’ uniforms have a red cross?

The nurse depicted in Banksy's Game Changer artwork bears the red cross emblem - but why?

Article
2 minutes
Constance, a volunteer from the Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) branch of the British Red Cross, 1960s

Black history is British history: a celebration

Our curator introduces an exploration and celebration of Black British history in our online exhibition

Article
2 minutes
Untitled design (21)

Celebrating nurses through the ages

From WWI to the coronavirus pandemic, let's hear it for the nurses who've looked after us through so much.

Article
3 minutes
Celebrating 150 years of the British Red Cross

Celebrating our 150th on a Royal Mint coin

A look at the inspiration and history behind the design

Article
3 minutes
A close-up image of a section of the original Changi quilt

What is the Changi quilt?

Created by a defiant group of women prisoners during the Second World War, the Changi quilt is packed with secret messages and hidden meanings

Story
3 minutes
A black and white photograph showing a large Red Cross truck arriving in Normandy, with soldiers looking on.

D-Day: How the Red Cross helped in World War II

The Red Cross was involved at every stage of D-Day, planning supply chains, caring for wounded soldiers and more.

Story
4 minutes
A painting showing a long road with a huge cloud of black smoke at the end of it - the Burning of Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp.

Doris Zinkeisen: WWII frontline artist

Once a society painter, Doris Zinkeisen was the first artist to enter the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp after it was liberated

Article
3 minutes
Brititsh Red Cross nurses from Barnsley line up to meet the Queen.

First aid and fairytales: celebrating the Queen's Platinum Jubilee

From first aid demonstrations, to a coronation and a Gold and Diamond Jubilee - our relationship with the Queen has spanned nearly a century.

Story
3 minutes
A black and white photograph showing two dogs wearing British Red Cross coats and carrying first aid kits

First aiders on four legs

Did you know that during WWI, the Red Cross used trained dogs to help stricken soldiers on the battlefield? True story.

Story
4 minutes

Page 1 of 3

  • Previous
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • Next
  • CONTACT US
  • JOBS
  • SITEMAP
  • CYMRAEG
  • LOGIN

  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy
  • Cookies
  • Modern slavery statement
  • Accessibility
  • Cookie Settings
  • Facebook
  • TikTok
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn

©2022 British Red Cross The British Red Cross Society, incorporated by Royal Charter 1908, is a charity registered in England and Wales (220949), Scotland (SC037738), Isle of Man (0752) and Jersey (430).

Registered with Fundraising Regulator