Our history

RedR UK has grown from a small register of volunteers, inspired by one man’s personal experiences of working in a refugee camp, to an international organisation, which has deployed over 2,500 experts to worldwide relief efforts following disasters, and delivers training across the world.
 

The beginnings – the 1980s
 

In 1979, Peter Guthrie was working as an engineer with Scott Wilson Kirkpatrick when a huge exodus of Vietnamese boat people caused a refugee crisis in Malaysia. Peter was recruited through Oxfam to work in the refugee camps for three months.

Upon his return, Peter realised there was no real system for deploying engineers to such emergency situations and so he came up with the idea for RedR (the Register of Engineers for Disaster Relief).  RedR was established in 1980 and formally became a charity in 1982. At this time, it relied mainly on volunteers and ran a small number of training events. Also in 1982, British Overseas Medical Service (BOMS - later to become International Health Exchange (IHE)) was formed.

The first big test came in 1985 when the Ethiopian famine required a significant number of RedR members to work on relief programmes in Ethiopia and across the border in Sudan. At this time BOMS also delivered the first Health Care in Emergencies course.

HRH The Princess Royal became President of RedR in 1988 and the organisation got its first director.
 

International disaster response – the 1990s
 

RedR members were called on again in 1991 to respond rapidly to the ‘first’ Gulf War and the desperate needs of the Kurdish people fleeing into northern Iraq. It turned out to be a significant year as RedR Australia was set up and the RedR UK training programme began in ernest. During this year BOMS changed to IHE and increased recruitment due to the complex emergencies in Somalia and (the former) Yugoslavia. It had also now began publication of Health Exchange magazine

Throughout the 1990s RedR members were frequently called on to respond to the emergencies and disasters that peppered the decade. Hundreds of RedR members were deployed to respond to the genocide in Rwanda, the crisis in Bosnia and the Kosovo crisis.

 

Growth and expansion – 2000s
 

By the turn of the new millennium, RedR’s international reach was expanding.  By 2003 there were RedR organisations in Canada, New Zealand and India and RedR UK set up a programme office in East Africa. 

2003 was also the year that RedR UK merged with IHE (International Health Exchange). IHE brought 22 years of health expertise in the relief and development sector, training courses and a medical register. Together, RedR-IHE (as it was then known) offered a broader range of professionals able to respond to emergencies and a wider scope of training courses.

Within a year, in response to the worsening security crisis, RedR UK set up its first regional training programme based in the field – in Afghanistan. This experience was to prove invaluable when, in 2004 and 2005 respectively, two major rapid onset emergencies struck Asia within months of each other – the tsunami in South Asia and the Pakistan earthquake.

RedR responded immediately by recruiting aid workers and setting up training programmes in each region. It also set up a safety and security programme in Sudan enabling aid workers responding to the Darfur crisis to continue working there safely. At this time, RedR South Africa and RedR Malaysia were also established.
 

RedR continues to develop new initiatives to stay at the forefront of improving disaster relief worldwide. In 2009, RedR forged links with Oxford Brookes University to offer its first credit-rated courses in Security Management, Managing People in Emergencies and Managing Projects in Emergencies. We are also heavily involved with the innovative UN-led Cluster system of humanitarian coordination, in the areas of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, Emergency Shelter, Nutrition and Education. Last year, through our programmes in Sri Lanka, Sudan and the UK and our bespoke training and consultancy service, we trained over 3400 relief workers in 20 different countries.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sub menu

1. Who we are
   1. Vision, mission and values
   2. Our partners
   3. Our President
   4. Trustees
   5. Our history
   6. RedR International
2. How we make a difference
3. Annual Review
4. Jobs and volunteering
5. FAQs
6. Contact us
7. Training and meeting room hire

Registered Charity No 1079752
RedR UK is a company limited by guarantee. Company Number 3929653