Red Cross is a name known in Albury – much to the credit of Jillian Fielder, who has been honoured as a life member after 30 years of service.
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Mrs Fielder’s story was told at the NSW Australian Red Cross awards, held on the Border for World Red Cross Day.
“I first got involved with Red Cross as a little girl, because my mother was in it too,” she said.
“My father was at war and I remember my mother making cakes and packing them in tins for him.
“We were taught to bandage and look after our school friends, thinking as a little girl about the needs of other people.
“There have been so many aspects of the Red Cross learning you can take with you forever.”
Mrs Fielder joined in Queensland in 1986, volunteering in retail shops and the blood bank before being elected to the state’s executive board in 2006, and she was a member of the emergency services until 2004.
It was her skills in the latter that lead to Mrs Fielder pushing for the establishment of the Albury emergency services team in 2004, which supported the Border community through the 2009 Mudgegonga and Gerogery bushfires.
“David Clarke had just been appointed at the regional centre and he said, ‘We need to get our team back up and running, would you be interested?’,” she said.
Mrs Fielder was also instrumental in reforming the Albury Red Cross Branch in 2011, which had been in recess for eight years.
“I’m so grateful for the opportunity to have done it, the experiences are unbelievable,” she said.
“We do a lot more than blood bank – we’re the hidden workers and we have to get out there and show them.”
Australian Red Cross chief executive Judy Slatyer said the 29 Red Cross members who were acknowledged at the awards, including another Albury member, Jeanette Fealy, showed the diversity of their skills.
“The blood service is critical, but it’s the humanitarian side of it as well,” she said.
“It’s up to members to work out what’s relevant to the community – whether it’s the hand massage service or a need for young mums to come together.
“Their training is about learning to walk beside someone, helping them build confidence in themselves, and my personal view is these are the skills every society needs.”
