Online volunteers and branch activities
The Red Cross's nationwide online help focuses on combating loneliness and supporting young people and immigrants. In addition, a help chat can be launched during emergencies and crises as part of providing help online. The online help is coordinated by the Red Cross headquarters in cooperation with youth shelters.
The role of the local Red Cross branches is to share information about the possibilities of online help with both the recipients and volunteers. This is important because appropriate forms of support and activities are not always available locally for all ages or target groups. Furthermore, taking part in activities in person may also not be possible for everyone.
In the activities of the local branches, individuals in need of help are occasionally encountered, for whom there is no targeted support available within the branch. In such cases, it's a good idea to suggest checking what kind of support the Red Cross online support offers. Below are a few ways to inform about the possibilities of online support.
Online support brochure
An easy way to advertise online help is to distribute online support brochures at events. These brochures can be ordered free from the Red Cross store (Log in => Järjestölle => Verkkoapu) or printed out from the material bank. The brochure is available in Finnish, Swedish and English.
The brochures should be available to be handed out at meeting places, language cafés, different types of groups and food aid events, to name a few.
Social media posts
Branches can also advertise their online support on social media. The images below can be used in both Facebook and Instagram posts.
Online help_postable image.png
Branch and district websites
Branches and districts can include a direct link to online support pages on their own website, for example as a pull quote or a hyperlink. All the online help has been listed at www.redcross.fi/onlinesupport
Sometimes new volunteers sign up to a branch but cannot find a suitable role for themselves or are unable to participate in face-to-face activities for one reason or another. In this case, they should be encouraged to explore the roles of online volunteering as well.
Volunteering online can also support them in a local role by providing additional training and experience. For example, volunteers trained in psychosocial support can develop and maintain their skills by serving in an on-call role on Sekasin.
Direction to the website
Volunteers can be directed to learn more about the online help roles either on our website at www.redcross.fi/onlinehelper or by searching for volunteering opportunities online on OMA Punainen Risti.
Online Helper at the Finnish Red Cross – self-study training
Nearly all of the online help roles require the completion of the self-study course Online Helper at the Finnish Red Cross. The training introduces the various tasks of online volunteers and provides a wide range of information on the specific features and potential challenges of interacting with people online. The training takes about 2–3 hours and can be completed at your own pace on the Red Cross Compass platform.
Online volunteers create a profile for OMA Punainen Risti and are then displayed on the list of volunteers of a local branch based on their address. This makes them volunteers of their local branch even if they are not currently serving in a local role. In autumn 2025, OMA Punainen Risti will gain a function that shows which of the branch's volunteers are serving in any of the nationwide online help roles.
It is important to note that many volunteers want to serve both as an online helper and in a local role. For many, being an online helper may be their first volunteer role in our organisation, and the courage and enthusiasm to get involved in local activities will not happen until later. On the other hand, participating in online tasks can be a good way for local volunteers to maintain and develop their skills if face-to-face volunteer opportunities are rare.
Volunteers serving in online roles should be kept informed of the joint events and training sessions of the branch. Those serving as online friends should be invited to peer meetings for volunteer friends, while on-call Sekasin volunteers should be encouraged to participate in psychosocial support training and, later, in the emergency team activities. Let’s also remember to invite online volunteers to joint thank-you events.