British Red Cross

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The British Red Cross Society is a prominent part of the largest impartial humanitarian organisation in the world – the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. At the heart of their work is providing relief to people in crisis, both in the UK and overseas. The Red Cross is committed to helping people without discrimination, regardless of their ethnic origin, nationality or religion.

1 Fundamental Principles
2 Activities
- 2.1 UK work
- 2.2 First aid
3 Celebrity links
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Fundamental Principles

There are seven fundamental principles in the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement that each volunteer must abide by, these are:

Humanity
Impartiality
Neutrality
Independence
Voluntary Service
Unity
Universality

[edit] Activities

Main article: International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement

The British Red Cross respond immediately to conflicts and disasters around the world, providing essentials such as food, clean water, shelter and medicines. The global network of Red Cross and Red Crescent volunteers means they are often first on the scene.

[edit] UK work

Across the UK, 35,000 volunteers are committed to helping vulnerable people in their own communities. They respond to emergencies such as the London bombings, rail crashes, fires and floods. In order to build resilience within communities, the British Red Cross train over 150,000 first aiders every year.

The British Red Cross provide short-term care to those affected by a personal crisis, such as house fires or mobility problems.

The British Red Cross also provide skin camouflage creams and training for people with skin deformities. These creams are colour matched by the British Red Cross and later available on the NHS. The creams are designed to cover burns, scars and other skin irregularities which may cause discrimination, this includes scars caused by self-harm. This service has been used by Inside and out and has proven quite effective in the majority of cases.

[edit] First aid

The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is the largest provider of first aid in the world.

The British Red Cross is a leading provider of first aid services at public events across the UK. Thousands of uniformed volunteers give care to the injured at events small and large including Premiership football games, concerts and State events.

First aid volunteers are trained by the British Red Cross, and advanced training in ambulance care is also available, as part of its role in assisting the NHS Statutory Ambulance Services.

The British Red Cross is also the largest provider of first aid training for the workplace in the United Kingdom. First aid courses specifically designed to provide skills for use at work have been run for 25 years and over 120,000 people are trained each year. Courses range from a basic Emergency Life Support to a four-day First Aid at Work (FAW) course recognised by the Health and Safety Executive.

The British Red Cross also is well known as providing many first aid courses across the country to members of the public, as well as reaching out to schools, community groups and minority groups.

First aid training programmes delivered by the Red Cross are renowned for giving participants both the skills and confidence to use what they have learnt, with a combination of theoretical knowledge and practical sessions.