Singapore Red Cross Youth

Singapore Red Cross Youth (RCY)
新加坡红十字青少年

Singapore Red Cross Youth Logo
Abbreviation	RCY
Motto	Humanity In Our Hands
Formation	1952
Type	Uniformed Group
Headquarters	Red Cross House
Location	15 Penang Lane Singapore 238486
Director	Mr. Sahari Bin Ani
Affiliations	Singapore Red Cross Society
Website	http://www.redcross.org.sg/articles/management-team

Singapore Red Cross Youth 60th Anniversary Logo. Celebrating 60 years of Spirit and Service Video

Red Cross Training Campsite. 62, Jalan Khairuddin, Singapore 457524

The Singapore Red Cross Youth (RCY) is a Uniformed Group for Primary School and Secondary School students. It has a membership of about 1500 Links (Primary School Students) and about 2500 Cadets (Secondary School Students) as of January 2015. There is also a non-uniformed wing - the RCY Chapters. There are currently 41 Link Units, 43 Cadet Units and 10 Chapter Units. RCY is one of the active divisions in the Singapore Red Cross. It also finances its own operations and activities.

History

The Red Cross Youth was formed in 1952, with Raffles Girls' School (Secondary) having its first cadet unit. The Red Cross runs school-based youth programmes and is a Co-Curricular Activity (CCA) recognized by the Ministry of Education as an avenue for Character and Citizenship Education in Singapore schools. The Red Cross Youth has two programmes – one for the Primary School children (Link Programme) and another for Secondary School youths (Cadet Programme). The organization of youth activities under this approach has produced good results with both the Link units and Cadet Units, enthusiastically pursuing a series of activities ranging from social/recreational to community programmes.

Red Cross Youth Chapters (RCYC or RCY Chapters), previously known as the Red Cross Humanitarian Network (RCHN) was incorporated into Red Cross Youth from 1 July 2011.^[1]

Structure

The Singapore Red Cross Youth comes under the command of Singapore Red Cross Society with the following appointments:

The Singapore Red Cross Youth is also organised in a National Headquarters level with the following appointment:

Incentive Badges Scheme

The objective of the Incentive Badge Scheme is to encourage Link and Cadet members to take an interest in subjects outside their normal academic curriculum and to widen their interests by carrying out these activities during trainings. Such activities may also be organized by their respective Districts. Certain activities are also organized by Red Cross Headquarters.

The different badges are as follows:

Cadets Members

Achievements

• President's Award
• Director's Award Badge

Proficiency badges

• First Aid (Bronze,Silver, Gold)
• Youth Ambassadors' Blood Programme (Bronze, Silver, Gold)
• Red Cross Knowledge (Bronze, Silver, Gold)
• Red Cross Service Learning (Bronze, Silver, Gold)
• Disaster Management (Bronze, Silver, Gold)
• Youth Leadership(Bronze, Silver,Gold)

National Education badges

International Exchange Programme to Japanese Red Cross, Hyogo. Visit to a Red Cross Hospital in Hyogo

• Total Defence (Bronze, Silver, Gold)
• National Day Parade
• Singapore Youth Festival
• National Camp
• National Heritage
• SANA Anti-Drug and Inhalant Abuse

Fundamental Badges

• Foot Drill

Enrichment badges

• International Friendship
• Link-Cadet

Annual Events

Red Cross Youth hosts a variety of major events, performances, competitions and programmes. The events are as follows:

Uniform

Male Cadet

Female Cadet

Rank structure

Rank sructure with illustrations

All listed ranks are in order of hirchy, from top to bottom, left to right.

¹Granted to outstanding cadets who have passed the Unit Leaders' Programme (ULP).

²Granted to Volunteer Instructors who have passed the Volunteer Instructors' Programme (VIP).

³Granted to Volunteer Instructors, aged 21 and above in the year of promotion, who have completed the Volunteer Officers' Programme (VOP).

⁴Granted to teachers who have completed the Unit Officers' Programme (UOP), or Assistant Youth Officers who have shown continued service.

⁵This is the highest possible rank an Officer can be promoted to.

⁶These are Appointment Ranks appointed by The Council.

Volunteer Instructors (VI)

Volunteer Instructors

Volunteer Instructors (VIs) are usually graduated cadets of various RCY units who wish to continue rendering service to the organization, at the school and/or headquarter level. Volunteer Instructors are required to undergo the Volunteer Instructors' Programme (VIP) organised by Red Cross Youth Headquarters. Trainees will undergo training to equip them with knowledge and skills to be an instructor in Red Cross Youth. All Instructors are required to obtain the Standard First Aid Certificate. When trainees successfully pass out from VIP, they will be appointed the rank of Assistant Cadet Officer.

Duties of a VI includes:

• Assisting the Youth Officer (YO) in preparing the unit's training work plan.
• Assisting in conducting training and organising of activities within the core curriculum of the RCY.
• Assisting in the organisation of activities for the respective district.
• Providing proper guidance and counselling to cadets and links, as well as to take charge of their welfare.
• Attending meetings at unit committees as a co-opted member to provide advice and expertise.

Awards and Commendations

Lanyards

A Cadet's Lanyard

Lanyard are awarded to cadets with outstanding performance in terms of leadership and/or skills in the following programmes/events. Lanyards are usually worn on the left shoulder as shown above. However, if a cadet attains more than one lanyard, he/she can only wear one.

Long Service Awards

Long Service Medals

Long Service Medals are awarded to Red Cross Volunteers as an appreciation for their active contributions in Singapore Red Cross.

The UnI Channel

In order to allow the cadets to stay connect with Red Cross Youth and interact with other cadets. In 2009, Red Cross Youth publicity team launched a Facebook group and blog, both named The UnI Channel. The blog provides regular updates on Red Cross-related issues such as works of ICRC and IFRC to provide cadets with additional information pertaining to the work of the Red Cross. Besides factual information about the Red Cross, the blog would also discuss problems regarding unit management, teamwork and youth-related issues. Moderators would also put up photos of recent RCY events that have occurred (like the ones mentioned above). The blog has achieved high readership since its launch in 2009, as of August 2015, it has over 623,000 views.

The UnI Channel also include a UnI Youtube Channel and a Facebook account which contains photographs of various events that happen within the Red Cross Youth Spectrum. More recently, they launched Twitter and Instagram accounts to update readers on the Red Cross Red Crescent scene, both locally and internationally.

School Units

Schools are categorised into four districts, namely the North, South, East and West. Below are the districts and their respective schools. Award section updated on 23 Feb 2014

List of RCY Chapters in Singapore

• National University of Singapore
• Nanyang Technological University
• Singapore Management University
• Ngee Ann Polytechnic
• Singapore Polytechnic
• Anderson Junior College
• Raffles Institution
• Nanyang Junior College
• ITE College East
• Singapore American School

References