Emergency Red Cross volunteers needed
The British Red Cross is looking to recruit hundreds of Scottish volunteers to help in major emergencies within their own communities over the winter.
The charity is keen to boost the numbers in their team of community reserve volunteers after recent flooding in Perth city centre, as well as previous power cuts and heavy snow around the area.
Simon Lewis, head of crisis response for the Red Cross, hopes people from across Perth and Kinross will sign up to do vital tasks such as filling sandbags, sorting food, and supporting flooded communities.
He said:“We’ve seen through the sad events of this year, including the Manchester Arena and London Bridge attacks and the Grenfell Tower tragedy, the extraordinary levels of compassion shown by ordinary people from local communities, when a crisis hits.
“It shows you don’t need special skills to help others.
“Small acts of kindness, and coming together as a team, can make a huge difference.
“This project is a way of harnessing the goodwill and kindness of the public for future emergencies, by signing people up in advance.
“We recognise people have very busy lives and can’t always commit to volunteering all year round.
“We would only call upon people at times of major local crisis, which hopefully won’t happen often, but when they do, and extra help is needed, people will have the opportunity to make a big difference.
“There are many different ways of helping your community, but this is a new one.”
He added:“When a crisis hits the Red Cross has established agreements with local councils and the emergency services, who call us to ask for our help.
“Once we have a team of community reserve volunteers in place, we will work with our partners before and during emergencies to identify key tasks the new volunteer teams could do, to help those affected.”
Those wishing to sign up can do so online at www.redcross.org.uk/ reserves - volunteers must be over 18, have a mobile phone, and be prepared to carry out practical tasks in an emergency.