The British Red Cross is working over Christmas to organise the delivery of relief parcels to thousands of families in Bangladesh affected by Cyclone Sidr.

The four-person emergency response unit (ERU) will be working over the next ten days to distribute relief packages to some 25,000 families affected by the cyclone, which hit the south-western coast of Bangladesh on 15 November.Logistics team leader Richard North, together with Gareth Tate, David Stevens and Paula Bray, are working through the Christmas period and into the New Year to ensure relief is distributed to those most in need. The relief packages include food, blankets, tarpaulins for shelter, cooking utensils, clothes and soap.

Generous response to Bangladesh appeal

In total the British Red Cross is helping to deliver goods to 100,000 families affected by the cyclone, which claimed more than 3,300 lives and destroyed 1.5 million homes.

The British Red Cross appeal has raised more than £600,000 for Bangladesh, and a very generous £5.7 million has been raised through the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) appeal.

The current ERU has replaced a four-person team who have been working in Bangladesh since the disaster struck in November.

In the next ten days we will try to reach a further 25,000 families

Richard North, British Red Cross

Speaking from Dhaka, Richard North said the team is busy managing shipments of aid from Red Cross warehouses in Kuala Lumpur and international airfreight. Relief items are then transferred to the main Red Cross warehouse in Barisal and driven to the south of the country for distribution to the most vulnerable people.

"In the immediate aftermath of the cyclone, 20,000 families received food," Richard said. "Another 25,000 families received the relief package in the past week and in the next ten days we will try to reach a further 25,000 families but it is a bit of a challenge because of public holidays here for Eid and Christmas."

The British Red Cross has also deployed a two-person team to assess livelihoods and shelter needs in the affected area. There is an urgent need to provide shelter for people who were left homeless by the cyclone before the rainy season arrives in February.

Future support in Bangladesh

To support livelihoods, the Red Cross plans to purchase fishing nets and boats, seeds and fertiliser ahead of the next fishing season at the end of March and planting season in April.

As part of its disaster preparedness work, the Red Cross will work with Bangladesh Red Crescent volunteers to help people diversify their livelihoods and provide training on building safer homes.

Read Bangladesh information sheet

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