The Barcaldine Red Cross Branch evolved from a local Women’s War Fund – a combined Red Cross and Comforts Fund – which operated during the second world war.
The first meeting of the branch was held on 10 November 1945 and within a year a Red Cross library of 165 books was presented to the hospital. The first annual meeting of the branch was reported in detail in the Longreach Leader (19 July 1946) see below.
In June 1947, a Blood Donor Panel with 64 typed donors was formed and updated in August 1952.
A Red Cross Blood Bank began at Barcaldine Hospital in October 1970 with help from Barcaldine Rotary Club.
The Red Cross Association also had an active branch which oversaw needs of the elderly and other disadvantaged people, and maintained a Home Nursing Unit from the 1980s.
