Our mission is to improve the lives of vulnerable people by mobilising the power of humanity and enhancing community resilience
We’re here to support your community
Every day we help New Zealanders when and where they need it, whether its teaching first aid in schools and workplaces, delivering a hot meal to someone who needs it, or organising volunteers to drive those who need assistance, we’re happy to help. Read about some of the programmes and services we run:
What do we do and where do your hard-earned fundraising efforts go?
Each year New Zealand Red Cross provides items and support in response to significant disasters and crises both here in New Zealand and around the world. We rely on fundraising to run our programmes and provide support and services. The help of your donations ensures that those most vulnerable get the support they need.
Curtain Banks
Our curtain banks provide curtains to families and individuals in the community who don't have the resources to purchase them. Keeping homes warm with appropriate curtains is essential to maintaining health and wellbeing.
Meals on Wheels
We deliver hot meals to elderly and disabled people and to those recovering from illness or hospital treatment. This service provides recipients with not only a healthy meal, but much needed regular social contact from a friendly face.
Bedding Packs
We provide bedding packs, with warm blankets and hotties, to help out people who are suffering from living in cold houses.
Visit our community programmes page to see more of our programmes, what we’re doing, and what programmes we’re running in your back yard.
First Aid Courses and Education
It’s so important to be able to react quickly and perform first aid when needed. Our first aid courses are practical, hands-on, and designed to give you first aid skills that you can use when you need them most. We also offer courses for kids, teenagers, and a defibrillator programme.
When disaster strikes we’re ready to go
We provide disaster risk management and disaster response teams when disaster occurs in Aotearoa. Our teams are made up of highly committed and multi-skilled volunteers. Your fundraising means we can get our disaster welfare support team and trucks out to provide relief, support, shelter and food for those affected by disaster, like the Napier Floods and ?hau fires.
We provide refugee settlement support
We are the primary provider of community refugee settlement programmes in New Zealand. We run pathways for former refugee Kiwis to help settle into their new community and new employment. We offer refugee trauma recovery and organise donated items to be given to those who need them.
Helping away from home
We provide support all over the world to communities affected by disaster, emergencies and conflict. One of the things we aim to do is build more resilient communities. We work with communities to build on their existing capabilities, so people become stronger and better able to cope with disasters. We also send international delegates to provide humanitarian assistance and development overseas. They are able to save lives, alleviate suffering, and maintain human dignity.
Helping our Pacific neighbours
Our Pacific Partner Programme ensures that during and after a disaster within the pacific region we provide much needed response and support to help get communities back on their feet. We train emergency response teams in first aid, communication, and disaster preparedness.
One of the oldest services in the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement, this service helps families in New Zealand locate news of missing loved ones. This service helps families in New Zealand find news of missing loved ones overseas where the separation was caused by war, armed conflict, disaster or migration.
Take a look at some of our programmes in action:
Meals on Wheels in the community
Former refugees resettle in Christchurch
Disaster response for Nelson Tasman fires
Restoring Family Links
For more of what we do at home and overseas visit the official New Zealand Red Cross website
