Volunteer-led orgainisation providing medical aid and disaster relief both in the United Kingdom and abroad; International Red Cross and Red Crescent Society founded in 1863, inspired by a Swiss businessman, Henry Dunant; British National Society for Aid to the Sick and Wounded in War established in 1870; renamed to the British Red Cross in 1905; 1907 a permanent structure of local Branches was adopted, extending the presence of the British Red Cross to communities around the country; in 1939, the British Red Cross joined with St John to form the Joint War Organisation, again affording the St John volunteers protection under the Red Cross emblem.