British Red Cross to recruit hundreds of community reserve volunteers

The British Red Cross in Greater Manchester has launched a campaign to recruit hundreds of volunteers willing to drop everything during a major emergency to help people in crisis in their own community.

When disaster hits, ‘Community Reserve Volunteers’ will form a practical taskforce, working as a team to do anything from filling sandbags to sorting food for their flooded community.

It is hoped the new teams will be able to provide valuable help if emergencies like the Manchester Arena bomb attacks in May, or flooding across the North West in December 2015, were ever to be repeated.

It only takes ten minutes to sign up, and volunteers will then be called out by text when they’re needed.

Modelled on similar initiatives run by the Dutch and Austrian Red Cross the new volunteering role aims to recruit 10,000 community reserve volunteers nationwide by November 2019, targeting areas most prone to flooding and weather-related emergencies first, in order to have teams in place this winter.

Volunteers must be over 18, have a mobile phone and be prepared to carry out practical tasks during an emergency.

To sign up as a Community Reserve Volunteer visit:

www.redcross.org.uk/reserves