During National Volunteer Week, 15-21 May 2006, Red Cross is celebrating the remarkable work of Red Cross volunteers across Australia and right around the globe.

According to Australian Red Cross Victoria Executive Director Andrew Hilton, about 26,000 Australians regularly give up their time to help those who are less fortunate, driving more than 60 community-based initiatives across the country. In Victoria, these include the Good Start Breakfast Club, where volunteers serve breakfast to children who might otherwise go without, and emergency services, where volunteers offer their time in first aid, registration of evacuees after an emergency, or feeding volunteer fire fighters battling bushfires.

'These volunteers, these ordinary Australians who do so much, are part of an amazing international tradition. There are some 97 million Red Cross and Red Crescent volunteers working in 183 countries, all with a shared commitment to working with the most vulnerable people in their communities,' he said. "And this shared commitment to humanitarian values - a commitment informed by our fundamental principles - means that the work of Red Cross volunteers here in Australia is often similar to that of Red Cross Red Crescent volunteers operating in what can be vastly different contexts." For the past eighteen months, Red Cross and Red Crescent volunteers in the remote Sahel region of West Africa have been involved in the huge humanitarian response to a large scale food

Bob Campbell of Aspendale Gardens is an emergency services volunteer right here in Melbourne

crisis, brought about by the truly biblical combination of drought and locust plagues, that has threatened an entire generation.

Veronique Aya Kwame is a long-time Red Cross volunteer from the Ivory Coast. She is working as a translator and administrator at a food distribution centre established by the International Red Cross in Niger, the country worst affected by the food crisis.

Veronique is a part of a Regional Disaster Response Team that was deployed to the Sahel to improve the capacity of National Red Cross or Red Crescent Societies to respond quickly and effectively to the food crisis. Volunteers undergo specialised training so that they can contribute to a rapid response.

But for Veronique, the experience is not all about assisting and teaching, but is also about learning and exchange. "For me, it is like a veil which lifts slowly. I am learning something from each and every one of my colleagues," she said.

Bob Campbell of Aspendale Gardens is an emergency services volunteer right here in Melbourne.

In his role as Red Cross Emergency Services Liaison Officer, he is a crucial part of the Red Cross response to an emergency and is trained to be ready for anything - from a house fire to a train station bombing.

He assists people in the first traumatic days after a house fire or other small-scale emergency, taking them shopping to buy them clothing, food and other essential items.  Emotional support is often an important part of the role, comforting people who have lost everything.

He also volunteers with the Red Cross' Telecross program, making daily calls to elderly and isolated people, providing vital contact and reassurance. 

He is always up for a challenge, having learned sign language so he could be a volunteer driver for the Deaf Olympics last year.  He was also a volunteer driver for the Commonwealth Games last month.

"I feel like I've had a pretty good run with my life and I just want to give back," he said.  "I've learned so much as an emergency services volunteer.

"People are always grateful for any help I can give them."

To find out more about become a part of this tradition and volunteering with Australian Red Cross go to our volunteer oportunities page.