Red Cross Blogs

When I was little, I used to accompany my mother as she shook a collecting tin during various charities’ flag weeks. I remember enjoying it, as we always saw lots of friendly faces and I was happy to be part of Mum’s fundraising efforts.

With this in mind I asked Sam, my five-year-old son, if he wanted to come and help me collect for Red Cross Week last weekend. He seemed pretty keen, so we off we went to our local high street in Chesham, armed with our collecting box and stickers.

Having confused him in the past with explanations of what the Red Cross does, this time I kept it simple: “We’re raising money so the Red Cross can help people.”

“So do we get to keep the money?”

“What do you think?”

Point taken.

We took up our position next to the market. As he is under 16, Sam’s not allowed to hold a collecting box. So it was his job to say ‘thank you’ and give out the stickers. He looked up and down the street hopefully. “Why hasn’t anyone given us any money yet?” he asked, after precisely thirty seconds.

But soon the coins started to jingle into our box. “One, two, three…” Sam counted as people came over to make their donation. He gave up after five, but seemed pleased with his job of giving out the stickers. He even remembered to say ‘thank you’.

I was also happy to be there. I usually feel a bit self-conscious when collecting, but Sam’s company made the time pass quickly. And Chesham’s residents were generous. A couple of people put tenners in the box. One nice man said he’d found £10 the day before and decided to give it to the next charity collector he saw.

After an hour, Sam was getting restless. When he started performing acrobatics on a traffic barrier and striking monster and alien poses, I decided it was time for his Dad to come and pick him up. I stood there for another half an hour but have to admit, it wasn’t nearly as much fun.

In total, we raised £53.64 – not bad for an hour and half’s volunteering.

Read about other ways people have been raising money for Red Cross Week.

Find ideas for fundraising with children.

Find other fundraising ideas.

---

Comments (2) »

---

Tags: fundraising, Red Cross Appeal Week, Volunteering, young people
Posted in Fundraising and events

---

The Kenya Red Cross is managing Ifo II West refugee camp in Dadaab and providing essential health and nutrition services, psycho-social support, security training and hygiene promotion services in Ifo II East. At the request of the UN Refugee Agency it is also taking on other health, water and sanitation services that were previously provided by other agencies.

The photo gallery below shows some of the health and sanitation work the Red Cross is carrying out in Dadaab.

Donate to the East Africa Food Crisis Appeal

Read blogs and stories about our work in East Africa

---

Comment (0) »

---

Tags: East Africa, East Africa Food Crisis Appeal, healthcare workers, Kenya, kenya red cross, refugees, water and sanitation
Posted in Emergencies, International

---

When I met the ever-smiling Nkhetheng in a kitchen in Pokane, in the mountainous kingdom of Lesotho, he was leading a group of villagers in some exquisite harmonies which filled the room alongside the fragrance of chutneys, pickles and jams which they were making as they sang.

Nkhetheng Pitso, 55, is married with ten children and knows all about the struggle to grow food in Lesotho’s challenging climate. This is his story:

“When I was younger I worked in the mines, but I came home in 2004. Now I’m a farmer, but at first it was difficult to feed my family. I used to try gardening but the crops would die, as I didn’t have the skills I have now. But things changed after I got involved with the Red Cross in 2008.

“The Red Cross officer encouraged unity in the village and I started volunteering because I was nominated by my community. I was taught about growing vegetables and now I give advice to others. Being a volunteer has boosted my confidence and I feel honoured in the village. We now have food to eat and before we struggled in the community. Now we can help each other.

“We were given seeds and the gardening is now very successful. We were also given water containers and taught to capture and store rainwater to use during droughts.

“Most of the community members are very poor, even me, but we know we will definitely get vegetables from my garden, such as spinach, radish, cabbage, carrots, tomatoes and pumpkins. Now I can grow vegetables all year round and sell some to meet other family needs. But I just give vegetables for free to those in my village who don’t have the money.

“In 2009, the Red Cross taught us to preserve food. Before that I only knew to preserve peaches and didn’t have so many recipes.

“I would love to open a restaurant but buying the utensils would be expensive. My children are so impressed by my skills and always recommend my food. I’m often asked to cook for people’s funerals.

“In February 2011, I was diagnosed with TB, but I wasn’t shocked because I had been in Red Cross workshops where I was taught about TB, so I knew I could get cured. As soon as I had some signs I went straight to the clinic.

“The Red Cross care facilitator was very close to me and my family, giving us support. She always came to check I was taking the medicine properly and I was still very active while taking the treatment, which I completed in July 2011.

“I was also tested for HIV and my wife too but we don’t have it, although many people in the community have been affected by HIV. Before, people were very ill but since the Red Cross came there are no longer bedridden people, all are living a better life and we are learning about HIV prevention.

“I’ve always loved for my children to be educated and now I work hard around here to pay for school fees so they can have a better future. I’d love my family to have peace and happiness and I’m doing what I can to make sure they get what they need so they are not sad.”

Read more stories from our HIV programme

---

Comment (0) »

---

Tags: AIDS, food preservation, HIV, Lesotho, TB
Posted in Health and social care, International

---

This year, we’ve been encouraging you to find bigger and better ways of fundraising for Red Cross Week. Stepping up to the challenge, people across the country came up with unusual, innovative and sometimes downright strange ways to bring in the cash.

Enormous confectionary

Cake sales are always a fundraising stalwart, but one Glasgow bakery reached new sugar highs with a 49 square foot millionaire’s shortbread. The enormous slab of caramel, shortbread and chocolate was produced by McGhee’s Bakery in Glasgow to mark the beginning of Red Cross Week. The giant confection was then sliced into normal sized portions and sold to raise funds.

Big money

In Poundbury, many shops have been displaying a giant gold coin in their windows this week. The oversized currency indicated that these local shops and businesses were lending their support to Red Cross Week. Participating stores encouraged the public to be ‘one in a million’ by donating a pound, or whatever they could afford – small donations quickly add up.

Expansive distances

After six months of hard training, bike enthusiasts Michael Coleby and Joe Greenway set off on an epic journey last Saturday. They are cycling over 1,000 kilometres from Bedworth, via the British Red Cross headquarters in London, to Geneva. Before setting off, Michael said: “It has been a busy few months preparing the logistics of the trip and I am excited about the hard work being put to the test.”

Huge challenges

Janet Meehan, 40, is terrified of heights. So what could motivate her to brave a 10,000 foot fundraising skydive? As a Red Cross delegate, Janet has travelled to crisis zones such as Pakistan and Tunisia. She said: “I’ve seen first hand how the Red Cross responds around the world to bring rapid support in disasters, and I also see every day the good work done here in the local community by the volunteers and staff based at my Reading office.”

Whether you do something big yourself, or get involved in something even bigger, every pound counts. It all adds up to help us make a huge difference, both in the UK and abroad. It’s not too late to get involved in Red Cross Week 2012 – find out what events and collections are coming up near you.

Find out more about fundraising ideas

Read more about how we help people

---

Comment (0) »

---

Tags: fundraising, red cross week
Posted in Fundraising and events, UK

---

Never let it be said that the British Red Cross is backwards in coming forwards when it comes to getting its message across.

To officially launch the organisation’s new Pupil, Citizen, Life-saver campaign, supporters marched straight into the House of Commons yesterday and started – literally – getting ‘hands on’ with the MPs whose support they need.

The Red Cross is calling on the government to ensure first aid and humanitarian education are included as a core part of the national curriculum. The organisation has reached 347,000 children and young people in the past five years and plans to reach 800,000 by 2015.

At the parliamentary launch more than 20 cross-party MPs came along to find out more, and meet pupils and teachers from schools that already successfully use Red Cross resources.

Quite a few even rolled up their sleeves and got stuck into some first aid training, while others pondered the sticky dilemma of how they’d respond if faced with a natural disaster.

The vast majority of Britain’s teachers (83 per cent) and parents (98 per cent) want first aid to become part of the curriculum – but currently just 18 per cent of primary schools in the UK offer pupils the chance to learn these skills.

Sir Bob Russell, MP for Colchester, is a parliamentary ambassador for the campaign. He said: “It’s great that children as young as five can learn first aid. The Red Cross’ teaching resources are clearly aiming to empower pupils rather than just inform.”

---

Comment (0) »

---

Posted in First aid, UK

---