News and updates
It can be hard to keep up to date with everything that is going on. This page has information about all our communication channels.
Keeping up to date
This website is the best place to keep up to date. You can:
- See where volunteers are needed right now
- Access tools and guidance for volunteers, including health, safety and wellbeing support
- Learn about induction and training opportunities
- Find contact details for area councils, branches and groups
- See our fundraising events calendar
- Share our stories with your friends and whānau.
We communicate regularly to all our members and volunteers via email. When you join as a member we add you to our mailing list.
Annual Appeal: 1 to 31 March
Our 2024 Red Cross Annual Appeal runs throughout March, with our Street Collection taking place on Friday 22 and Saturday 23 March.
All members and employees are encouraged to sign up for a two-hour shift as a street collector at one of the 200+ sites across the country.
Sign up to be a street collector and choose your site and shift
We hope this year's theme, 'Buckets of Good' will inspire thousands of Kiwis to help cross items of basic need off New Zealand Red Cross’ bucket list – and fill our donation buckets!
Downloadable campaign posters
- What's on your bucket list? Donate today and do Buckets of Good (PDF, 1.5MB)
- Organise a Red Cross fundraiser and create your own fundraising page (PDF, 2.6MB)
Downloadable campaign email signatures
- Disaster support e-signature (JPG, 348KB)
- Meals on Wheels e-signature (JPG, 373KB)
- Refugee support e-signature (JPG, 323KB)
Short campaign URLs for sharing externally
- Donate page (live from 1-31 March) – redcross.org.nz/annualappeal
- Street collector sign up (for those outside Red Cross) – redcross.org.nz/streetcollector
Area Council elections: 1 to 31 March
We're looking for Red Cross people to join our local leadership groups (Area Councils), to help guide our Red Cross people to achieve our Strategy 2030 goals.
Nominations are open from 1 to 31 March 2024.
Flu vaccinations 2024
We're offering free flu vaccinations to our members and volunteers. Vouchers will be available from early April.
Find out more about flu vaccination vouchers
Upcoming courses
DNA of the Red Cross
The next session will be held online on Friday 6 September from 10am to 1pm.
To register, email your name and role to: IHL.Volunteer@redcross.org.nz before 2 September.
Learn more about the DNA of the Red Cross course
Disaster and emergency support
Current emergencies
In this section, you can access information for New Zealand Red Cross people about our role in supporting current emergencies and how to stay up-to-date on the likes of severe weather events such as Cyclone Gabrielle. Plus key points about the New Zealand Disaster Fund, how it works, and where to direct any questions.
Good and Ready Essentials – a step-by-step guide to preparedness
Disasters and emergencies can strike Aotearoa New Zealand at any time, without warning. It is important for us, as members of the New Zealand Red Cross, to be well prepared. When we are prepared we can continue to assist those in need during an emergency or disaster, and helps us and our households to cope.
Visit the New Zealand Red Cross Good and Ready webpage:
Prepare for a disaster – get Good and Ready
We encourage you to complete all the steps on the page so that we all have a plan and know what to do when an emergency or disaster strikes. Good and Ready connects to NEMA disaster preparedness resources, which are available in a variety of languages.
Health and wellbeing support
New EAP Provider-TELUS Health
We changed to a new Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) provider TELUS Health on 1 November 2023 to provide a more comprehensive range of mental health and wellbeing resources to our people. For further details and how to access this support, or to find out what to do if you are currently accessing EAP through the previous provider, please visit the volunteers page on our website.
Health, safety and wellbeing resources
New guidelines on returning to work or volunteering after injury or illness
Rehabilitation and return to work or volunteering activities guidelines Oct 2023 (PDF file, 249KB)
Realising 2030
Realising 2030 is our plan to deliver the changes that will make Strategy 2030 possible. One of the first visible changes is the establishment of a new area model on 1 July 2023.
Find out details of the new areas
Regular publications
RED Magazine is published twice a year and is for everyone. You can read the latest issue online or pick up a copy from your nearest service centre.
Inside RED is distributed monthly by email and is for members, volunteers and staff. We email a copy to members and volunteers. If you haven't been receiving 'Inside RED' you can sign up.
IHL Champions Newsletter is prepared by international humanitarian law volunteers and our IHL Principal Advisor and distributed bimonthly by email. Sign up to get these newsletters straight into your inbox.
Social media channels
To make the most of keeping up-to-date with everything going on in Red Cross around Aotearoa New Zealand, follow us on our social media channels – links are at the bottom of this page in the footer.
If you are sharing New Zealand Red Cross content on social media you need to be familiar with our Media and Social Media policies.
Intranet
Branch presidents, area council chairs, and their deputies can log in to the Intranet to access updates for office holders, file committee meeting minutes, and access online dashboards that show the latest membership data.
Information about logging in to the Intranet