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Urbantz supports the French Red Cross to create a solidarity delivery network in response to the coronavirus
This week, the French Red Cross launched “Red Cross at Your Place”, an initiative to respond to the coronavirus pandemic and provide support to isolated people. Urbantz is supporting the solidarity delivery network with its delivery management software and expertise.
The French Red Cross supports people in isolation
“Red Cross at Your Place” is aimed at people confined at home who can’t rely on a caregiver to provide them with groceries and medication. The initiative has two components: a telephone support service and a solidarity delivery network. People throughout France who are facing isolation and vulnerability aggravated by the pandemic can now call a dedicated line to request counselling and psychological support, but also order basic necessities to be delivered to their homes by Red Cross volunteers. In addition, while the recipients pay for their food and medication, the French Red Cross covers the delivery cost. This ambitious initiative will be launched across all of metropolitan France and counts on over 60,000 volunteers.
A call for help
In the first week of stricter quarantine measures, the French Red Cross made a call for help, inviting businesses to support its response efforts. Urbantz was one of the first to respond and to provide its service for the management and optimisation of the solidarity delivery network.
It is the first time the French organisation has implemented such a complex response mechanism. The initiative offers essential goods to be selected from 15 predefined kits that include hygiene products and basic necessities, as well as medication.
After five days of operation, “Red Cross at Your Place” had received nearly 1000 requests for home deliveries of kits, medication and visits in the departments where the delivery network is already running. But the number of requests is forecast to increase with the rollout to the rest of the country and as more people hear about the initiative. This model will be replicated across all French territories, including overseas, with a central team coordinating the response and a solidarity delivery network supported by 10,000 volunteers.
How is Urbantz helping?
Together with the French Red Cross, Urbantz’s experts looked for the best way to manage such a large-scale process, given the multi-level delivery operations and the voluntary nature of the people involved in the network.
In just one week, Urbantz’s Customer Success team managed to set up the technical side of the network, including the central management platform and 100 sub-platforms for the departments’ managers, supported by custom video tutorials for staff and volunteer training. Congratulations to everyone involved!
In the coming weeks, Urbantz will continue to provide technical support and expertise to the French Red Cross, having set up a dedicated team ready to support the efforts and to ensure that the organisation has control and visibility over all delivery operations.
Want to talk about your business continuity plans around coronavirus? Get in touch today. Based on our experience with the recent events in Europe, we can help you plan and optimise your delivery operations with a rapid setup.