By Ashita Ashish Sule (20S03J), Chairperson
The referee’s whistle blows. Cheers erupt from the crowd, excitement and tension fill the air. You are far away from the spotlight, but your battle is no less intense, for the consequences of failure can be so much more severe. A few quick, well-practiced moves serve to securely fasten the bandages around your newest charge, just in time for another goal to be joined by a collective shout of triumph. Your own victory is much softer: a quiet murmur of thanks, relief at a wound ably seen to, and satisfaction from a job well done.
Upon joining RCYC, you’ll have the invaluable opportunity to learn and apply First Aid skills that extend beyond theory—to the school, at home, and even to our larger community. As a member of RCYC, you will be provided with compulsory Standard First Aid (SFA) Training, a 2 day course that equips you with First Aid knowledge and skills, such as tending to common wounds to bandaging for dislocations, and even carrying out CPR and using the AED for life-threatening emergencies. Following your training, there will be countless opportunities available for you to use your skills in reality: from offering First Aid coverage to the school during events such as the Team Raffles Games and Y5 Orientation, to participating in initiatives by the Red Cross Headquarters including the First Aid On Wheels (FAOW) at East Coast Park and other community events such as marathons.
Our outreach to the community is also centred around contributions to several welfare organisations that you can choose based on your interest. All members volunteer at a Voluntary Welfare Organisation (VWO) of their choice weekly. Currently, such VWOs include volunteering at the Good Shepherd Student Care (GSSC), interacting with dialysis patients at the National Kidney Foundation (NKF), and visiting patients at Ren Ci Hospital. Furthermore, regular opportunities are given for the entire batch to engage in service with a beneficiary of their choice together. Coupled with direct service, each member also gets to initiate, organise, and execute their own service project, either at their VWOs or at another beneficiary of their choice. Hence, as everyone gets to choose the beneficiary they would like to work with and the events they would like to take part in and organise, every individual in RCYC has a unique service journey.
RCYC members also meet up for General Meetings (GMs) every Wednesday from 2pm to 3pm where we discuss upcoming events and opportunities and work on our self-initiated service projects. Members are typically organised into committees of their choice and are given the space to plan and execute activities that the committee is involved in. Our Welfare Committee organises fun bonding activities during GMs, while the First Aid Committee organises First Aid Refreshers to ensure that we remain in touch with our First Aid skills and knowledge.
One of the highlights of our outreach to the school is the planning and execution of our biannual Blood Drive, which provides a platform for members to involve the school in giving back to the community.
As an RCYC member, you can engage in exciting opportunities that extend beyond the local community based on your interests, ranging from service-oriented activities such as Overseas Humanitarian Programmes, exchange programmes with Red Cross members internationally, and programmes which tackle global issues like humanitarian diplomacy and disaster management.
To sum up, here’s what you can expect:
- Weekly service at one Voluntary Welfare Organisation
- Allocation to an organising committee, where you will help plan for events such as Blood Drive
- First Aid training and opportunities
- Ad hoc programmes by Red Cross Headquarters
As such, the RCYC experience will definitely be a meaningful one: one that allows you to shape and explore your own interests in the multitude of unique opportunities provided for you. RCYC is not just confined to the boundaries of service—rather, it extends its opportunities to widen your global outlook and contribute to causes much larger than those within your immediate community. Undoubtedly, that is what sets us apart from the other service CCAs in Raffles.
If you would like to know more about us, visit us at our booth during Open House! And if you want to pick up First Aid skills and interact with our members, join us at the January Induction Programme (JIP) First Aid Workshop.