When firefighter Terry Hand attended a horrific – and fatal – car crash last month, he knew he could count on the Red Cross to support local distressed residents. Here’s his story.
My team was called out to a residential area in Salford after a stolen car struck a garden wall at speed and burst into flames, hurling debris across a suburban street and sparking a series of fires.
Since the snow starting falling last week Red Cross volunteers and staff have been working around the clock helping people in crisis.
To help you keep up with the wintry work we’re doing cross the UK, we’ve created this handy map - and you can follow our live Twitter updates.
Have you done a snowy shift for us recently? Or maybe you’ve seen or been helped by our volunteers? Let us know in the comments!
London emergency response volunteer Cristina Dalton
Not only does Cristina Dalton get a huge amount of satisfaction from being a Red Cross volunteer – it’s also helped land her a good job.
Cristina, a London-based emergency response volunteer for almost three years, is by now an old hand at helping people in crisis. Many is the time she’s turned out following a fire or power cut, to help set up a rest centre or offer medical support.
So when Kingston Council recently advertised for an emergency planning officer, she literally ticked every box and seemed an obvious choice.
© ICRC/ Ibrahim Malla
Back in August, I wrote about the dangers faced by Syrian Arab Red Crescent volunteers as they work to provide a lifeline for anyone in Syria caught up in the conflict.
Since then, another Red Crescent member has died while on duty. More
A brave young woman who suffered horrific burns has won our Humanitarian Citizen Awards for her work educating people about the dangers of fire and raising money for charity.
Three years ago, Erin McNeill (22) was caught in a blaze at a friend’s house and suffered 40 per cent burns to her arms, legs and body. She spent ten weeks fighting for her life in intensive care unit – most of it in an induced coma – then endured a series of skin graft operations.
The reconstruction work is still ongoing – she expects to undergo five or six operations next year – but she still finds time to regularly help Central Scotland Fire and Rescue Service drive home its fire safety message.
Josh Prince has been volunteering with us for nearly two years. We had a chat with him to see if he’s enjoying volunteering in London throughout the Olympic Games. More
First aid volunteer Minali Perera (pictured right) is part of a team posted at Liverpool Street station in London during the Olympic period. Over the weekend a diabetic man collapsed in the station on the eve of his wedding, but was able to continue home after help from Minali and her colleagues.
