![[ad] Empower free webinar 9 September](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.cloud/2026/07/Banner-Ad-728x90-1-1.png.webp)
Defender extends Red Cross partnership to 2029
Howard Lake | 7 September 2026 | News
Defender and the British Red Cross have extended their humanitarian partnership to 2029, taking one of the world’s longest-standing corporate charity partnerships to 75 years.
A partnership that started in 1954
The relationship dates back to a specially adapted Series I Land Rover that went into service with the British Red Cross as a mobile dispensary in the deserts of Dubai in 1954. Defender says it has since helped more than two million people.
Vehicles designed with the IFRC
The next phase will deploy NGO-specification Defender 110 and 130 vehicles, designed in collaboration with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. They are available as a Defender 110 plug-in electric hybrid, a Defender 110 D250 and a Defender 130 D250, specified with driver assistance and off-road packs for staff and volunteers working in difficult terrain.
Advertisement
Alongside the vehicles, Defender says that it will fund volunteer and health worker training, infrastructure projects, education and cash assistance. Targeted projects in the UK, Nigeria and India aim to support more than 100,000 people over the next three years. The UK work focuses on helping communities respond to increasing flood risk.
Founding member of the Disaster Relief Alliance
Defender remains a founding member of the British Red Cross Disaster Relief Alliance, and has increased its contribution to the fund. Unlike disaster funding that arrives only after a crisis, the Alliance invests in preparedness so that teams can respond faster when emergencies hit.
Béatrice Butsana-Sita, chief executive of the British Red Cross, said:
“For over seven decades, the partnership between the British Red Cross and Defender has supported humanitarian staff and volunteers to deliver vital support to people and communities in crisis in the UK and around the globe.”
Mark Cameron, managing director of Defender, said the need had “never been greater”, adding:
“As the world grapples with climate change, conflict and economic instability, the Red Cross and Red Crescent movement remains a constant, acting with neutrality and kindness for all who face crisis.”
There can’t be many corporate charity partnerships that have endured for 75 years, with repeated changes of leadership on both sides, and changing needs and priorities in the work of the charity. several rebrands and repeated changes of leadership on both sides.
- Land Rover extends its global partnership with IFRC for five years (14 January 2014)
- Jaguar Land Rover announces charitable foundation (4 March 2025)
Related posts
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.