Helping other people, enjoying commitment, continuing to educate yourself or looking for a sense of community – for a variety of reasons, more people in Upper Austria than ever before are getting involved with the Red Cross in their free time. “More than 23,900 volunteers is a very proud number,” said Upper Austria’s Red Cross President Walter Aichinger at a press conference on Tuesday. But despite the record high and even though around 500 new volunteers are joining every year, the Red Cross must continue to look for helping hands. The reasons for this are:
Time factor: While Red Cross volunteers in Upper Austria worked 3.1 million hours in 2019, the annual number fell to 2.9 million hours by 2023. In addition, depending on the activity, the volunteers must complete special training in order to be able to provide highly professional help. “Managing family, work and voluntary work is a challenge,” says Aichinger, confirming a certain “time pressure”.
“Diverse field of activity”
There is only a minimum time commitment in the emergency services – 144 hours must be completed in this area per year. The main difficulty, however, is to keep the volunteers longer; According to regional manager Erich Haneschläger, the average length of stay is currently around seven years. “In order to promote and strengthen the community, we organize, among other things, summer festivals where the whole family is invited,” explains Julia Madlmair, volunteer in the rescue service.
The 30-year-old has been involved with the Red Cross for half her life. At 15, she started with the Youth Red Cross, later became a group leader, then trained as a paramedic and is now deputy local branch manager in Vöcklabruck. “I also met my husband during the service and married into a Red Cross family,” says the mother of a small son.
Services offered: Since more and more people are dependent on the Red Cross, partly due to demographic change, the range of services has been expanded in recent years. “The areas of activity are very diverse,” says Red Cross President Aichinger. Help can be provided everywhere, from rescue services to blood donation services to children’s learning accompaniment or in administration.
“Available at any age”
“It is possible to get involved at any age. The feeling of community is priceless and the activity is also important for personal development,” emphasizes Red Cross President Aichinger. Around 2,500 children and young people spend their free time in the Upper Austrian Red Cross youth groups. At the same time, the proportion of volunteers who are over 60 years old is 30 percent.
Anton Moser is a latecomer. Since the 66-year-old from Traun retired a year ago, he has been working as a learning and reading coach at the Red Cross Learning Island in Traun. “I have received a lot in my life, now I can give something back to society,” says the former lawyer.
Once a week, Moser does homework with the children and prepares them individually for school and everyday life. For him, the “positive feedback” from the children is just as nice as seeing “young people blossoming in school and showing learning success.”
Author
Daniel Gruber
Editor Upper Austria
Daniel Gruber
