New Zealand Red Cross seeks volunteers for Gisborne Disaster Welfare and Support Team

New Zealand Red Cross is calling for volunteers to join a new Disaster Welfare and Support Team based in Gisborne.

The new team will strengthen local emergency welfare capability in Tairāwhiti, with more trained people on the ground and pre-positioned resources ready to go when floods, cyclones, earthquakes and other emergencies affect the region.

It will build on the strong capability that already exists across Tairāwhiti, where local people, iwi, Emergency Management Tairāwhiti, and other organisations and communities have significant experience supporting each other and responding when emergencies happen.

New Zealand Red Cross Emergency Management Volunteer Development Advisor, Phil Parker, says local capability is particularly important when roads are damaged, and communities are cut off by a disaster.

“In previous events like Cyclone Gabrielle, we’ve seen just how isolated parts of the East Coast can become. Having a trained Disaster Welfare and Support Team in Gisborne means we can respond and get welfare support to people who need it much faster.”

New Zealand Red Cross has more than 20 Disaster Welfare and Support Teams around the country, made up of around 320 volunteers. During an emergency, teams may be called on to work alongside other response agencies such as the National Management Emergency Agency (NEMA), local Civil Defence Emergency Management Committees, Fire and Emergency New Zealand and New Zealand Police, as well as iwi, marae and other community organisations, to support communities affected by disasters.

“Our role is looking after people’s welfare during an emergency. This can include setting up and providing support in evacuation and welfare centres, reaching out to communities to check on their welfare and undertake needs assessments to find out what support people require, while also providing emotional and practical support,” Phil says.
 
New Zealand Red Cross is now recruiting volunteers aged 16 and over to join the new Gisborne-based team (note - only volunteers aged 18 and over will be eligible to deploy in an emergency). Previous emergency response experience is not necessary, volunteers will receive extensive training, including psychological first aid, comprehensive first aid, and operational deployment training. They will also need to commit to ongoing fortnightly training sessions run in the evening.

“Most importantly, we’re looking for people who want to support their community. We’ll provide the training and skills they need to be ready to respond,” Phil says. 

With communities facing increasingly frequent and severe emergencies, the new Disaster Welfare and Support Team will add another layer of local resilience.
 
“By joining the Disaster Welfare and Support Team, people are helping their community become more prepared and better able to respond when something does happen,” Phil says. 

How to join 

People keen to join the Disaster Welfare and Support Team in Gisborne can find out more on the New Zealand Red Cross website. 

An Information Hui for prospective volunteers will be held at the Gisborne Red Cross Service Centre on Wednesday 14 October at 7pm. Register here

More information

• Find out more about what we do in emergencies and disasters.
  
  
• Read more about the Disaster Response Alliance, and our incredible partners, ASB and Woolworths, whose support enables us to be there for communities in need.
  Our Disaster Response Alliance

Media enquiries

Please contact: media.comms@redcross.org.nz