Superb work of local volunteers cross services Since the last issue there have been so many particularly super stories of local volunteers and services going above and beyond across the Area. Two of our fire and emergency support volunteers were highly praised for their professionalism at a fatal call-out in September. In October, event first aid volunteers Matt Jones and Colin Stokes leapt into action and saved the life of the Tranmere Rovers photographer. Above is a card received by our mobility aids team with a donation showing how vital a wheelchair can be for our service users. Fundraising-wise, we are the beneficiary of the Cheshire Oaks Tree Collection. Continues on page 6.

THIS ISSUE

New Lancashire president

Youth education

Emergency response

Issue 1

9 D

ec 2

015

The newsletter for Red Cross volunteers and staff in Lancashire, Merseyside and Greater Manchester

Gold Cardiac Smart Award Received Eric Lee will accept the award in December on behalf of the Red Cross in Lancashire. The Award recognises those who have dedicated time to raising awareness of heart health, basic life support and defibrillators in their local communities. They are awarded to those who are actively working in their community to increase survival rates of out of hospital cardiac arrests. In our Area we help North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) to train these life-saving skills and our volunteers across Lancashire check public access defibrillators to make sure they are operational in support of the 999 service who have an up-to-date list of where the community public defibrillators (CPADS) are. This information is passed to the public in event of a Red One call to enable de-fib to be commenced as soon as possible in conjunction with CPR. This not only does a valuable service for the community but raises awareness of the Red Cross locally. Below is a link to their website: http://www.cardiacsmart.nwas.nhs.uk/

Photo

s on p

age 1

: © V

olu

nte

ers a

nd sta

ff/BR

C.

IN THIS ISSUE

Page 4 Youth education Page 5 Preston’s new refugee drop-in Pages 6 - 7 Area news

NEW FOUNDATION TRAINING

PROGRAMME (FTP)

From October this replaced the following

courses for volunteers and staff:

− Welcome Workshop

− General health and safety

− Fire safety

− Information Governance

− Lone working and personal safety

− Safeguarding children and young

people

− Safeguarding adults

− Save a Life

− Safer Handling A and D

− CALMER

− Equality and diversity

− Professional boundaries

− Effective communication

It’s a 3 day mandatory course (no APEL).

An ID number and completion of pre-

course work (eLearning) is required and

people need to book themselves on.

Any queries please email:

PandLNorthWest@redcross.org.uk

Welcome to this issue of Local Life.

For me, one sentence describes our team in the North West: rising to the challenge. Since the last newsletter we have responded to more victims of modern slavery in Manchester, secured more support at home work, delivered high quality event first aid service at Tough Mudder and our teams continue to provide compassion and knowledgeable advice to a huge increase in the numbers of asylum seekers and refugees in the North West (50% higher than expected). Wow! You may have heard that the British Red Cross is changing. Public expectations of our services, our fundraising and our ability to sustain operations have changed and we must adapt. This change programme includes: the way we buy things, where we are located, how we meet people and learning needs, how we structure our pay for staff and most crucially - how services are structured in the UK. I think you'll agree this is substantial. Final decisions on what to change will be made at the end of 2015 and more detail then worked on in 2016. The organisation may look very different in months to come. The Area volunteers’ council and I will soon offer a range of ways for people to talk with us and ask questions - the 2013 'Have your say' survey asked us all to respect each other and communicate in advance of decisions, even if this means we cannot answer everything. That is what we intend to do. Changing ourselves to meet the needs of the future, while growing our services to meet local need is no easy task. I am so grateful for all you do to contribute to this mission and live up to the high expectations of the people we serve. Thank you for rising to the challenge, Dom

Best wishes,

Dom

Dominic Briant, interim Area operations director Direct dial: 01772 707 326 Email: DBriant@redcross.org.uk REFUSING TO IGNORE PEOPLE IN CRISIS

Welcome

In 2016 look out for: > Volunteer and staff Social and Awards

Evening dates. > The new Area Ambulance fundraising

Appeal.

Photo

s on p

age 3

: © V

olu

nte

ers/B

RC

.

New Lancashire president - Susie Charles

“I was born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaya, whilst my father was an Officer in the

British Army. We lived in various places in Malaya and Singapore until I was

eight, when we returned to England, when my father was posted to

Nottingham. Living in the Far East was an idyllic life for a child - school from

8am to 12 noon and then all afternoon at the swimming club. Even going to

school in an army truck guarded by two soldiers with rifles seemed quite

normal!

When I was 11 years old, I went to board at a convent near Sherborne in

Dorset, which I loved. After gaining O’ Levels I opted to go to the Marlborough

Secretarial College in Oxford and then worked for a year for a marketing

research company before going to live and work in Barcelona. I lived in Barcelona for two years, initially

working as an au pair and then as a translator. On return to England I worked as a PA in London for 11

years. It was in London I met my late husband, Richard. We led a slightly nomadic existence, moving

around England as Richard built up a successful business in the food industry. During this time I juggled

working life with bringing up three children - at one time I had three under 4 years of age, quite a handful!

They are now adults - one is married, so I have gained a lovely Spanish daughter-in-law. My Lancashire

roots come from my mother, who originally came from Ellel, near Lancaster (where the family has lived

for approximately 600 years) and we moved here in 1997 after my aunt, Betty Sandeman, died.

Since 1999 I have been a Councillor on Lancaster City Council and was Mayor of Lancaster in 2014 -

2015. I am also a County Councillor, and was first elected in 2005. For the period 2009 - 2013 I was the

Cabinet Member for Children and Schools. I was delighted and honoured when I was asked to agree to

my name being put forward for the presidency of the Red Cross in Lancashire. The Red Cross worldwide

is renowned for its humanitarian and apolitical aid with regard to global emergencies, disasters and

conflicts, but less is known of the vital and varied roles played by the British Red Cross and it is my aim

as the Lancashire president to try and remedy that by highlighting its refusal to ignore people in crisis.”

In Memoriam

On the 13 August 1915, The Royal

Edward, a troop ship on its way to

Gallipoli was struck by a German torpedo

and sank within six minutes. The total

death toll was over 1,000. Of these were

35 medics from Burnley and district who

were on their way to care for the

wounded. To commemorate the 100th

anniversary of the sinking, 207 Field

Ambulance from Manchester together

with Burnley Council staged a number of

events during the 12 - 13 August. The vigil culminated the following morning by a closing service with the

extinguishing of the candle, the playing of the last post followed by a minute’s silence after which a

named cross for each of the 35 men from Burnley was planted. Volunteer Denise North from Burnley

represented the Red Cross by planting one of the named crosses at the ceremony. She also took part in

the 24 hour vigil wearing the uniform of a First World War Red Cross Nurse.

Photo

on p

age 4

: © V

olu

nte

ers a

nd sta

ff/BR

C.

Youth education Aim: for young people to understand why the British Red Cross refuses to ignore people in crisis and improve young people’s capacity to help themselves and others in crisis. We work with young people aged between 10 - 19 years in a variety of settings. This might be a Year 6 group in their last year of primary school. It could be a youth club. It might be a group of 6th formers. Or, it might be another organisation, such as a charity. (We have a wider offer for children aged 6 - 9 years that uses online resources other educators can download).

Where do you deliver your sessions? We target all our direct delivery work on those where we can make the greatest impact. This is based on national data that also in-forms what topics we cover. Following the re-structure our service is aligned to the 11 Government regions nationally. For the North West this includes our Area as well as Cheshire and Cumbria. The target locations in Lancashire are: Burnley, Blackburn, Blackpool, Hyndburn and Pendle. In Merseyside: St Helen’s, Liverpool and the Wirral. In Greater Manchester: Salford, Manchester, Wigan, Oldham and Rochdale. Then in Cumbria: Barrow-in-Furness, and in Cheshire: Halton. For young people who live outside these locations there are a range of resources online that they can access themselves or teachers can download and use. What is it you do when working with the young people? We have a series of topics which currently include: Everyday First Aid (focusing on reducing the harm-ful effects of alcohol and drugs) and reducing the harmful effects of stigma towards refugees. We talk with the young people about situations they might find themselves in or those of other young people. We invite them to take part in role plays, discussions and games. We use videos, images, music and other materials to help get our messages across. We generally work with small groups of 15-30 young people. We evaluate all our work before and after to see what difference it has made.

What should I do if a school wants a first aid or Stigma workshop? For any enquires about youth education, the easiest thing to do is take their name and number and forward it to the Youth Education Support Centre: 0344 412 2734 (Internal: 19149), email: youtheducation@redcross.org.uk They will contact them within 24 hours. Alternatively, you can forward them onto the local team below. Any questions you have, or if you know of any groups of young people that would benefit from the workshops, please let them know.

Service update

Role Name Target Location

Email Mobile

Co-ordinators

Sandra Maguire Lancashire and

Cumbria SMaguire@redcross.org.uk 07730

192810 Carmel Parr Merseyside CParr@redcross.org.uk 07710

711629 Lydia Wright Greater

Manchester and Cheshire

LydiaWright@redcross.org.uk 07921 404627

Manager Hayley Walker North West HWalker@redcross.org.uk

07710 711630

Lancashire’s new drop-in Here are pictures from a celebration that took place at St Cuthbert’s Church, Lytham Road, Fulwood. The Church have kindly agreed for our refugee services team in Lancashire to use the hall for weekly drop-in sessions. Volunteers, service users and staff enjoyed some amazing food together - all homemade traditional dishes. Service co-ordinator Wonder Phiri, has as a great team of volunteers and there’s some really important work going on. The team have a number of families they are supporting, and children at the drop-ins are made to feel very welcome. There continues to be a fantastic response from people donating items, from clothing to toys for children. The team are currently looking for a location in Preston where these can be stored be-fore being distributed to service users. If you can help/know of anywhere please email: WPhiri@redcross.org.uk

Photo

s on p

age 5

: © V

olu

nte

ers a

nd sta

ff/BR

C.

Service news

With Love from Liverpool! It was great to see the city of Liverpool support the Red Cross Europe Refugee Crisis appeal and host a fundraising concert at the Echo arena. Over £30,000 was raised- a fantastic achievement by all involved!

EFA: Rogue firework response at

organised family display Molly Dickson, 8, (pictured right with one of our fleece blankets) was hurt

by a stray firework that flew straight into her, narrowly missing her baby

sister. She was left shaken after it hit her leg, leaving her with bruises and

burns to her clothes - luckily Molly herself wasn’t burnt. Three of our

volunteers; Cat Swift, Clare Swift and Dave Percival who were providing

the first aid for the Formby Bonfire and Fireworks Display treated her in

the Red Cross tent on site, bandaging her leg.

Molly was able to go to school the next day on crutches with her band-

aged leg. Her parents were very grateful to the three EFA volunteers for

looking after Molly on the evening. The event organiser was instructed to

end the remainder of the display and Merseyside Police took all the fire-

works away to give to the Fire Service. The firework was thought to be

faulty, causing it to misfire into the crowd.

and ER volunteers represented

Cover story continued:

Event first aid (EFA) Heroes Volunteers Colin Stokes, 35, and Matt Jones, 21,

had packed up at the end of a Tranmere Rovers

match, when they saw Tony Taylor, 53, a football

photographer collapse as he talked on the phone.

Together the pair provided life-saving first aid until

paramedics arrived. Colin, who began volunteering

with the Red Cross three years ago and is now

qualified as an ambulance crew member, said: “As

Matt and I were chatting there was a guy on the

phone and as we were watching him he fell forward

and collapsed. Because we were so close, we were

on him within about five seconds of him collapsing.

CPR is the thing you practice most but do the least.

But when you do it, you just go into automatic mode -

you know exactly what you need to do.”

Once at the scene, paramedics used a defibrillator

and heart monitor to get Mr Taylor’s heart back into a

normal rhythm. Colin and Matt then continued to

provide oxygen and monitor his condition until

another ambulance arrived and he could be

transferred to hospital. Mr Taylor is due to have a

triple heart bypass operation, and plans to meet

Colin, Matt and the other volunteers when he is

better to say thank you.

Matt, said: “For me it just shows you can be

anywhere at any time and someone can collapse

right in front of you - it shows how important it is to

know first aid and how to save a life.”

NWAS paramedic James Woollacott, who witnessed

the volunteers’ work, said:

“The Red Cross volunteers contributed significantly

to the saving of life on this occasion. They were the

real driving force in making sure circulation was

restored and when myself and my colleague arrived

resuscitation was well underway. These guys are

heroes in our eyes - dedicating their time for the

sake of others and as such we look forward to

working alongside them in the future.”

Fire and emergency support (FES) On Saturday 10 September volunteers Rukia (Roo) Shepherd and Iris Ferreira responded to a call-out from the Fire Service to attend and assist at a fatal flat fire at a supported housing scheme in Stretford. The request came before the time both were due to be on call but agreed without hesitation to go out to support these people in crisis (Roo quickly making care arrangements for her three children). Some 27 residents were displaced from their flats as a result of the fire in which one person died. Iris and Roo gathered information upon arrival at the scene and assessed the most urgent need. They provided food and drinks for the residents and staff, as well as further practical and emotional support. Later in the evening Iris drove the FES vehicle to transport several residents to their emergency hotel accommodation. The FES service response on the night of the incident was so professional and efficient that the Red Cross gained the confidence of the staff and are continuing support for residents. Staff and the Fire Service were so impressed with the support they asked if we could return a couple of nights later to offer emotional support as some residents returned to their homes. Without any hesitation, Roo offered to attend with a colleague. Residents were reassured to see a familiar face they could trust and clearly warmed to Roo’s compassionate, sensitive yet upbeat attitude. Mark Murphy, Fire Service Protection Manager said: “With regards to the complexity surrounding the temporary displacement of the residents and the obvious emotional stresses caused by the serious nature of the incident, I can’t say enough how valuable and important your teams contribution to the safety and wellbeing of the residents was.” Watch Manager Todd Welsh added: “Please thank Roo and Iris for their consummate professional and tireless hard work over the course of the evening.”

Area news

Photo

s on p

age 7

: © V

olu

nte

ers a

nd sta

ff/BR

C.

Fundraising update We have two new senior community fundraisers: Tracey Crich for Lancashire (based at the Preston office) and Kerry Threadgill for Greater Manchester. We will be staffing The Tree Collection at Cheshire Oaks Retail Outlet Village, Ellesmere Port every day until 24 December. If you’d like to help please register online for a slot of your choice (maximum of two people per slot) and come and collect donations for us at the tree entrance, encouraging people to go inside. The wow factor is amazing - the tree is 100 feet tall with 100,000 lights and 12,000 baubles.

Retail - A novel fundraiser

Gill Whittaker, the manager of the Burnley Red Cross shop has found a creative way of raising funds. Jill and a team of volunteers use the craft known as book folding to transform surplus donated books into commemorative gifts for a variety of occasions. These are sold in the shop and during the recent Burnley canal festival, Gill manned a

Area news

Area volunteers’ council

The council meets to discuss matters which affect volunteers. There are vacant positions on the council and recruitment will take place soon - interest from Red Cross shop volunteers would particularly be welcomed. Please contact the council chair, Ben Hepplestone if you would like to bring anything to his attention: BHepplestone@redcross.org.uk Annually we have Social and Awards Evenings for

ALL volunteers and staff which celebrate the out-

standing dedication and achievements of volunteers.

This year’s were held in Lancashire at a new venue -

the Village Urban Resort, Blackpool, in Merseyside

at the Liverpool Medical Institute (LMI) and at another

new venue in Greater Manchester - at Ordsall Hall,

Salford.

2016 dates and venues will be confirmed soon

ID CARDS

Volunteers and staff - please wear your ID card

Anyone can help, you don’t have to be a volunteer or staff member so please tell your friends. The link is: https://doodle.com/poll/hqb96ypicp9rgn6x

Photo

s on p

age 8

: © V

olu

nte

ers a

nd sta

ff/BR

C.

Tell us your story

We’d love to hear from you on what you would like to see covered in your Area newsletter or to tell us about the fantastic work you are doing. The deadline for the April issue is 14 March 2016. To find out more about anything you have read, or to be featured in the next edition, please email (editor) Clare Scurr:

Local offices

Bolton 01204 369260

Liverpool 0151 7025050 Manchester 0161 8888900 Newton-le-Willows 01925 229740 Preston 01772 707300

Do you know where your

nearest defib is?

The British Red Cross helps people deal with emergencies, disasters and conflicts in the UK and around the world. We refuse to ignore people in crisis.

www.redcross.org.uk

CScurr@redcross.org.uk

Learn first aid anytime, anywhere with the Red Cross’ award winning First Aid app and Baby and Child First Aid app.

Download today for free from redcross.org.uk/app

Emergency response (ER) Niall Pemberton is now our Area service manager for ER, based at the Preston office. Email: NPemberton@redcross.org.uk “It’s been a busy few months

since starting in the role. Alongside the regular response from the fire and emergency support (FES) teams across the Area, we have been engaged in supporting repatriation flights from those affected by the security concerns in Sharm El Sheikh. Also supporting colleagues in refugee support—providing clothing and toiletry items to Syrian refugees arriving into the UK, being ready to respond to flooding and severe weather across Lancashire and creating a safe and welcoming environment for those subject to human trafficking and modern slavery. We look set for another busy few months ahead with preparing for severe weather in the winter period and fully testing our Area ability to respond to large scale emergencies by undertaking a control room exercise this month - Operation Tailfin.” There is a new Red Cross app available - for emergencies (please see above right).

Area ER in numbers Since August 2015 there’s been:

75 live responses

52 volunteers responding

40 hygiene packs given out

30 beneficiaries temporarily housed

27 human trafficking beneficiaries

12 PageOne requests to volunteers

Service update