Red Cross invest $50,000 in 'Project Independence'

The Red Cross Canterbury West Coast region today announced it would be providing $50,000 worth of free emergency training to people with intellectual and physical disabilities. Charities such as IHC, CCS, Foundation for the Blind and NZ Deaf Association will assist by identifying their clients who will benefit most from this training.

Regional Director Graham Wrigley explains "This is a really exciting project for us. The goal of Red Cross is to protect human life and dignity by alleviating suffering. This project is about protecting people and building dignity, its about providing people with the tools and skills they need to be more independent, safer, and more prepared."

Many of the clients of the selected charities would not normally access emergency training. This is one of the outflows of the recent Project Partners initiative. Under this programme 40% of the money donated by Cantabrians is invested back into Canterbury, and 60 % is invested in projects overseas, mainly in the Pacific.

"We will offer several courses," added Regional Marketing Manager Richard Blakeborough "including our Basic First Aid course and our People Savers course. Most of the training will be at Red Cross facilities (Birmingham Drive Training facility, Christchurch, Timaru Service Centre , Ashburton ) with trainers traveling over to the Coast for Courses in Greymouth.

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