Cruz Roja Española were at the Playa Flamenca Town Hall on Tuesday to announce the launch of their new office on the Orihuela costa.
Pilar and Maria from the Alicante office were joined by Pedro Domínguez where the trio gave an overview of their main activities.
Pilar explained the purposes of the charity, touching on their work with the disabled, children and youth work, health, the environment, gender violence and emergency aid.
She also spoke of their work with the unemployed, particularly in finding jobs for the long term unemployed and of the initiative designed to help people under 30 without formal qualifications to develop skills to help them find work.
Pilar said that the Orihuela Costa presents a completely new market to Cruz Roja, one that they are keen to enter as soon as a local office can be established.
The charity’s efforts in Alicante with convicted lawbreakers, and their endeavours along the entire coastline supporting the homeless and refugees was also mentioned, as was the financial support through fundraising and the lifeblood of the charity, the necessity of a constant inflow of volunteer workers.
Just as soon as he or she can be recruited, a local coordinator will be established on the Orihuela Costa who will be based in an office in the Reading Point, Ramon de Campoamor. The coordinator will then set about implementing Cruz Roja procedures in the area, as well as establishing their own network of volunteers.
Maria explained that Cruz Roja is available to everyone, not just those in emergency or conflict zones. “There is so much that we can do to help the local Community. We appreciate that there is already an excellent network of charities established on the Orihuela Costa but with the knowledge that we have gained from the work that we do elsewhere in Spain we feel that we can supplement many of their efforts and plug the gaps where there might be a demand that isn’t currently being filled” she said.
She hoped that the new office would be established in the coming weeks.
With the departure of Pedro Domínguez from Cruz Roja Española at the end of the month the new contact for the Alicante area is now Maria who can be reached by email at: madayro@cruzroja.es
