Members of the British Red Cross Society have been at the forefront of charities helping those in need.

Many will know of the movement’s extensive work in helping in emergencies overseas.

But others will be grateful for the help it gives to families and individuals closer at home.

Providing care in the home, medical equipment, first aid and transport are just some of the services available locally from this 150-year-old organisation.

The Oxford Mail has an extensive collection of pictures illustrating the hard work carried out by volunteers over the years.

Some were taken at Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford in 1970, when more than 300 members held their annual service and parade.

The High Sheriff of Oxfordshire, Lt Col Anthony Taylor, carried out the inspection in Tom Quad.

Fundraising has always been at the heart of the society’s work.

In 1967, at the annual bazaar at Oxford Town Hall, the Lord Mayor, Alderman Frank Pickstock, opening the event, paid a glowing tribute to the Red Cross.

He described it as “the prototype of all voluntary organisations who do so much good work in our community for all sorts of people who are handicapped or in some kind of difficulty”.

Oxford United added its support in 1975, providing an autographed ball so that it could be raffled in aid of Vietnamese and Cambodian children.

The Red Cross movement started in 1863, inspired by a Swiss businessman, Henry Dunant.

He had been appalled at the suffering of thousands of men, on both sides, who were left to die through lack of care after the Battle of Solferino between French and Austrian forces in Northern Italy during 1859.

He proposed the creation of national relief societies, made up of volunteers, trained in peacetime to provide neutral and impartial help to relieve suffering in times of war.

The British National Society for Aid to the Sick and Wounded in War was formed in 1870. after Col Loyd-Lindsay (later Lord Wantage of Lockinge) had written a letter to The Times, appealing for Britain to follow the lead of other nations.

It became the Red Cross in 1905.

During the two world wars, the British Red Cross Society and the Order of St John joined forces to form the Joint War Organisation, ensuring activities were carried out efficiently and under the protection of the Red Cross emblem.

Extensive services were provided for the sick and wounded, for prisoners of war and for civilians needing relief as a result of enemy action, at home and abroad.

Today, in peacetime, the British Red Cross continues to provide a wide range of services at home and overseas.