The British Red Cross has announced a charitable fund to assist UK residents who are the victims of terrorist attacks overseas. The Red Cross has established the fund at the request of the government, which has donated £1m to it.

The British Red Cross Relief Fund for UK Victims of Terrorism Overseas will provide financial assistance to people who have been seriously injured or bereaved.Charitable grants of up to £15,000 will be available to help people deal with the immediate financial difficulties they may experience following a terrorist incident.

By making grants immediately available we hope to ease the burden at an incredibly stressful time.

Margaret Lally, British Red Cross 

An immediate payment of £3,000 will be made to people who have been bereaved or seriously injured. A further payment of £12,000 will be made available to those who have been bereaved, and those people who have to remain in hospital for five days, or need continued outpatient appointments. The grants are not compensation for what victims have suffered.

Stressful

Margaret Lally, director of UK service development at the British Red Cross, said: "These charitable grants are to help alleviate the sudden and unforeseen expenses people may incur such as hospital bills, or additional travel and accommodation costs. By making grants immediately available we hope to ease the burden at an incredibly stressful time."

The British Red Cross is an officially recognised auxiliary to the UK government in the humanitarian field. For the last two years, the Red Cross and the government have been working closely to improve the support that is given to Britons who are affected by emergencies overseas, including terrorist incidents.

Support

As part of this, Red Cross support workers now travel as part of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) rapid deployment teams to provide practical and emotional support to Britons who have been affected. In this role the Red Cross helped UK residents affected by the bomb explosions in Turkey and in Dahab, Egypt in April last year.

Money from the new fund will also be made available to the UK victims of terrorist attacks overseas that took place between the 1 January 2002 and March 2006. These payments will be made to people who have not received any other form of financial assistance and who are known to be still experiencing financial difficulties.

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