"As a volunteer, I feel I can achieve anything"

Here, British Red Cross volunteer Kat describes finding their community, the power of young volunteers’ voices and launching pronoun pins.

Kat, who uses the pronouns they/them, grew up in France and Spain before moving to the UK to study engineering. They joined the British Red Cross in 2021 and started volunteering in the Youth Leadership and Volunteer Experience teams.

“I was drawn to volunteering because I felt the need to give back to my community, says Kat.

"I also wanted to find a community of my own, because I’d moved from outside of the UK to Edinburgh, where I studied, and to Bristol, where I am now.

They soon became part of the Youth Leadership Team - a group of 12 people with two co-chairs. Kat loves the flexibility of the work, which is almost entirely online. But most of all, they love that the team gives a voice to young volunteers. 

"It encourages young people to take a bit more responsibility and speak up about things.

"They maybe haven’t had much experience of work but they still have very valuable insights into community-building, the environment, humanitarian issues, and many other things", Kat says. 

"Young people spoke with passion and energy"

In 2022, Kat organised the British Red Cross youth conference, which was held in lush rural Wales, which gave plenty of opportunity for long walks.

Kat and the Youth Leadership team surveyed the young volunteers before the event to find out what topics they wanted to cover.

"We had workshops, talks and discussions on themes like climate change, diversity and inclusion, refugees and migration, youth engagement and health inequalities," Kat said, who found the experience inspiring.

"The highlight for me was seeing all the young people talk in such a knowledgeable way, with so much passion and energy."

"When you grow up, you go into a job, you get into habits and ways that are normal to you. Young people don’t really have that yet – they still have an open mind. So it’s so important to listen to what they have to say."

"British Red Cross people are lovely, kind humans"

As a gay person with autism, Kat experiences imposter syndrome and self-doubt.

But they felt accepted at the Red Cross. They love the diversity of the people they've met, who are from many different backgrounds, ages, disabilities and genders.  

"Self-doubt and low self-esteem is quite common in gay kids. I grew up as a girl and as a girl, you don't get listened to as much as boys. But at the Red Cross I was surprised that people did listen to me.

"Now that I know everyone, I’m not so surprised, because British Red Cross staff are all such lovely, kind humans that genuinely want to help," they say.

The pronoun pin project

After speaking to Jess from the Volunteer Experience team, Kat and Jess hit on a great idea: free pronoun pins for volunteers. They felt it would be a great way to raise awareness and show that the Red Cross supports the trans community.

"I wouldn’t say we had to do any convincing because everyone’s been really supportive of the project," Kat says.

"But we did share statistics and research and explained why the trans community needs support right now.

"Wearing a pronoun pin is a simple, efficient way to say, ‘We will treat a trans person exactly the same as we would anyone else, with compassion and understanding.’"

Kat helped to design a badge to wear on volunteer lanyards, which come with simple cards bearing an educational message. They have found the project another empowering experience. 

"I'm glad I can do something that might make someone else happy down the line. I’ve been able to do that because of British Red Cross staff. That is so amazing."

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