Red Cross dumps loyal volunteers

DUMPED: Red Cross Voluntary Aid Service members (from left) Helen Wynd of Goonellabah, Kerrie Gray of Alstonville, and Clare Dwyer of Lismore.

DESPITE a proud history of supporting the local community through the Lismore Blood Bank and providing volunteer first-aid at community events, Helen Wynd, Kerri Gray and Clare Dwyer have just been told their services are no longer needed.

Ms Gray, regional liaison officer of Voluntary Aid Services, has been with the Red Cross almost 30 years, and was shocked at the way she and other volunteers were told their time had ended.

“We went to our regular meeting in Sydney on June 13, and ... some Red Cross executives simply told us that we no longer fit their national directions,” she said.

Mrs Dwyer, the Lismore group's logistics officer and Red Cross member for 38 years, said 'nobody understands what the new direction is'.

“The person who made the decision on the 14th floor of a building in Melbourne didn't know what services we provided,” she said.

Group team leader, Miss Wynd, has served 61 years and helped start Lismore's Blood Bank in 1953.

Miss Wynd said volunteers would meet to decide whether to continue at the Blood Bank under the Red Cross until complete disbandment on December 1, or operate under another name. But it's a different story for the first-aid services Ms Gray is involved with.

“We can't form another first-aid group, because we can't afford the insurance or the equipment,” she said.

“We bought nearly all our own equipment with help from the local community. There might be some disagreement if the Red Cross tries to take that away.”