General Assembly
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
2015-16 GENERAL ASSEMBLY The Barbados Red Cross Society Headquarters | Warrens | St. Michael | Barbados Tel. + 1 (246) 417 2727 | Fax +1 (246) 417 1540 Email [email protected] GENERAL ASSEMBLY REPORT 2015- 2016 2015-16 DIRE DIRECTOR GENERAL’s REPORT CTO R GENERAL’S REPORT DIRECTOR GENERAL’S REPORT DI DIRECTOR GENERAL’S REPORT R DIRECTOR GENERAL’S Edmond Bradshaw-BSM Director General REPORT The Barbados Red Cross Society Headquarters | Warrens | St. Michael | Barbados Tel. + 1 (246) 417 2727 | Fax +1 (246) 417 1540 ECTOR GENERAL’S REPORTEmail [email protected] GENERAL ASSEMBLY REPORT 2015- 2016 BARBADOS RED CROSS SOCIETY GENERAL ASSEMBLY 25th MARCH 2017 DIRECTOR GENERAL’S REPORT YEARS 2015 & 2016 GENERAL OVERVIEW On the positive side, the highlight of the past two years was the wonderful work of Volunteers in Youth, First Aid services through the Youth Department, Youth Links, Training, Disaster, Meals On Wheels, as well as the work of CADRIM and the IFRC through its representatives in Barbados, along with general support from our donors and well-wishers. The Barbados Red Cross Society however continued to face significant financial challenges and its fund raising efforts require greater support from persons at all levels of the organization. For overall revenue, the Management had to resort mainly to direct solicitation of donations, coupled with revenue gained from the holding of classes in a very competitive environment, and to a lesser extent the provision of First Aid and Ambulance services which also in recent years have faced stiff competition. The First Aid services to events have been coordinated by the Youth Section for some years and I am thankful for that. The Volunteer management section needs special attention as highlighted in the OCAC. It is impacting on the provision of First Aid Services and Ambulance Services as well. The support of the Federation to the National Society has been good, and the heads of the Cluster Office in Trinidad and the Regional Office in Panama are to be complimented for the efforts made in providing as much assistance as possible. Special thanks to Ms. Lorraine Mangwiro who has moved on from being head of the IFRC’s Cluster Office and special welcome to Ms. Josephine Shieldsrecass, the new head. Ebola 2015 started with much concern about Ebola and Red Cross Volunteers were trained by the Health Ministry to assist in the event of any outbreak here. (-1-) NON-COMMUNICABLE DISEASES The Director General increased efforts to impress on the International Federation of the Red Cross, the importance of sourcing funding for the training of young people in prevention of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs). The International Federation’s Sub Regional Cluster Office Coordinator, Lorraine Manjeiro, made a special effort to get support for this initiative with regional awareness meetings held for National Societies. However the anticipated significant sourcing of funds by the Federation to roll out a NCD programme across the region did not materialise. The Director General continues to impress on the international movement the importance of NCDs and the immense health and financial consequences that are resulting for Caribbean countries. The Barbados Red Cross was represented at the Non-Communicable Diseases and Healthy Lifestyles Training Workshop, in Trinidad, from the 26th to the 28th of April, 2016, by Dr. Rochelle Hunte and Ms. DeLisa Lashley. MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE TAX After appeals against the Municipal Solid Waste Tax imposed on the Red Cross of $4,071.90, Government revisited the legislation and waived the tax. FUND RAISING PROMOTION The Barbados Red Cross joined Brydens Stokes, in a special fund raiser to coincide with the 2015 National Independence, the Anchor products “Together Giving More” promotion with Anchor Cheese and Butter. The amount raised was $9,639. Thanks were extended to Brydens and Mr. Paul Batson, Brand Manager- Anchor Products. FUND RAISING DINNER The annual dinners 2015 and 2016 were held at St. Leonard’s School, with poor support in ticket sales at levels of Governance, staff, volunteers and members, with a few exceptions. This lack of support discourages the planning of other fund raising activities which require the sales of attendance tickets. RED CROSS WEEK 2015 & 2016 While there was poor Red Cross attendance in recent years at the Church services, 2016 was inspiring, being excellently coordinated by an efficient and enthusiastic team of youth and regular Volunteers. However only one Board Member, Mr. Peterson Yearwood attended the 2016 Service. (-2-) A comprehensive report on the Red Cross Week for both years, incorporating the Church Service, is set out in the Youth Report. I wish to congratulate Mr. Peterson Yearwood and his team, whose names are mentioned in the Youth Report for the tremendous work done. APPROVAL OF THE REVISED CONSTITUTION The revised Barbados Red Cross Constitution was approved at an Extraordinary General Assembly on 27th April 2015. The membership year is such that membership becomes due on 1st January and expires on the 31st December, as reflected in Article 8. There were many other changes to the Constitution and members are encouraged to study the document well. VOLUNTEERS CONCERNS Concerns remain about the poor support given to the Volunteers Section which has suffered significantly from a lack of coordination of events. This has concerned the International Federation to the extent that a representative recommended to the Volunteer Officer that he remove himself so someone else could be assigned to carry out the work. The Federation informed that there was very little produced for the amount invested in training the Volunteer Officer. OCAC The IFRC’s effort to assess the Barbados Red Cross National Society through the Organisation Capacity Assessment and Certification (OCAC) ran into a stumbling block which could impact the progress of the National Society. A more detailed OCAC presentation is included in the overall Report. APPEALS Following Tropical Storm Erika’s severe damage to Dominica in August 2015, the deadliest natural disaster there since Hurricane David in 1979, the Barbados Red Cross Director General launched a cash appeal in Barbados which raised BDS$129,500 (US$64,750) for Dominica. This money was sent to the IFRC for its relief work with the Dominica Red Cross. The Nation Corporation group of companies launched their own caption “Give Dominica” which encouraged the public to give to the Red Cross Appeal For Dominica Account. All the other media carried the promotional materials. (-3-) In reporting on its seven month relief operation following Tropical Storm Erika, the Dominica Red Cross on behalf of the people of Dominica thanked the people of Barbados with sincere appreciation for their generous donation made through the Barbados Red Cross. According to Kathleen Pinard-Byrne, Director General of the Dominica Red Cross (DRC), during the seven month duration of TS Erika Emergency Relief Operation, the Dominica Red Cross reached more than 1400 beneficiary families island-wide with the provision of food and non-food items such as hygiene kits, jerry cans, baby kits, mattresses and linens, kitchen sets, tabletop stoves and cleaning kits. The introduction of a Cash Transfer Programme for the households of Petite Savanne and Dubique enabled the disbursement of US$136,211 /EC$366,162 which assisted survivors in purchasing immediate needs. Through the establishment of a Water Filtration Plant in Coulibistrie, 1000 gallons of potable water was distributed daily to communities island-wide. Following the passage of Storm Erika 200,000 non-biodegradable plastic water bottles were distributed around the island which threatened to overwhelm the capacity of the Sanitary Landfill. In order to circumvent the potential for an environmental disaster the Dominica Red Cross donated EC$ 25,000 to Dominica Solid Waste Management Corporation towards the electrical installation costs of a Polyethylene Terephthalate Shredder. Being cognisant of the water accessibility challenges faced by special institutions with a high reliance on a constant water supply, the Dominica Red Cross purchased and installed five 1000-gallon water tanks fitted with a pump and water filter system. Through the kind support of donors the DRC provides ongoing training of volunteers and community persons in order to facilitate an efficient and effective response to the increasing incidence of disasters related to climate change. As a result, strengthening community resilience assumed overarching importance for SIDS (Small Island Developing States). Mr. Edmond Bradshaw, Director General of the Barbados Red Cross had in turn thanked the people of Dominica for their appreciation of the assistance given by Barbadians and looked forward to future collaboration in times of disaster. HAITI APPEAL The Haiti Appeal was launched with all the commercial banks. The Director General provided all the media houses, television, radio and print with promotional packages for this appeal. There was not however the amount of calls usually received in these kinds of disasters. It was not certain if Barbadians were limiting the amount they were spending. (-4-) WATER APPEAL A water appeal was started for the people of St. Joseph and other parishes affected by water outages. There had not been a big response to it as yet. Given the publicity and criticism against the Government and Water Authority, the Director General felt that it was in the Red Cross’ interest before doing a Haiti Appeal, to do something for the people in Barbados without water, so there would not be criticism that the Red Cross was helping Haiti but not the people in Barbados requiring water. At the time the Water Appeal was launched the Water Authority had told the public that the bore hole it was digging to supply a million gallons of water a day to St. Joseph, was interfered with by the passage of Storm Matthew, and the completion would be delayed by two or three weeks.