"Our heroes in a crisis..."

Terror attacks and the Grenfell Tower tragedy have made the past 12 months the British Red Cross’s busiest year since the Second World War, for an army of emergency response volunteers.

More than 1,000 recruits have been called to the scenes of atrocities over the last year - with many doubling or even tripling up, helping not only victims and survivors of Grenfell but also the London Bridge, Finsbury Park mosque and Manchester Arena disasters.

Now a dozen of them are being celebrated by the charity by featuring in a new photoshoot, unveiled today after being spearheaded by award-winning artist Rankin - ahead of next week’s Red Cross Week, 148 years since the British branch of the charity was founded.

Simon Lewis, the BRC’s head of emergency response, told Metro: ‘I’m constantly in awe of our volunteers - whether it’s the major events of last year or turning up to help flood victims on Christmas Day or just supporting anyone in need. It’s quite amazing, really.’

Mr Lewis, a police officer for 30 years before joining the British Red Cross in 2010, said: ‘The events we had last year were so large, and the recovery after Grenfell went on for so many weeks afterwards, we had to dip into all our volunteer teams.

‘It doesn’t matter what an incident is, there are people we need to help who are going through a life-changing personal crisis.

‘But events like Grenfell last year were especially harrowing, and not only for victims and survivors but our volunteers too - all of those right at the sharp end.’

Executive director Zoe Abrams said: ‘Even during these most terrible of times, we also saw the extraordinary power of human kindness as the country came together to help in any way they could.

‘For the British Red Cross, last year was unprecedented in our peacetime history in the UK.

‘It is through the incredible kindness and compassion of volunteers like these that we are able to continue supporting people whenever and wherever crises happen.’

Rankin said: ‘The people in these images worked day and night alongside the emergency services, he;ping people cope with what happened.

‘Their incredible compassion and support made a difference to so many people in their darkest hour.’

The charity has 20,000 trained volunteers, many working on rotas and willing to turn up at whatever crisis might arise - with 3,000 expert in emergency response, only for last year to force many more into action.

They deploy 60 vehicles sent to incidents across Britain, most often house fires where victims can be offered at least some food, water, clothing and shelter.

Mr Lewis added: ‘We’re responding to emergencies across the UK every single day, on average six times each day - a whole range of incidents, even if the Red Cross is best-known for what it does internationally.

‘We look to fill that gap there can be, between what the other authorities and emergency services can provide - while allowing them to do what they need to do.’

Among the fundraising efforts to which the British Red Cross contributed were the London Fire Relief Fund which raised £7.3million for those affected by Grenfell and the UK Solidarity Fund which has generated £3million for the victims of terror attacks.

They also organised the ‘One Love’ pop concert at Manchester's Old Trafford cricket ground a fortnight after last May’s terror attack that killed 22 people, alongside headline act Ariana Grande and featuring fellow performers including Liam Gallagher, Justin Bieber, Coldplay and Little Mix.

The photos and video interviews released today form part of that the British Red Cross are calling their ‘The Power Of Kindness’ campaign.

A Romanian medic hurried to help out at the London Bridge and Finsbury Park terror attacks as well as the Grenfell Tower fire in between - and now says he finally feels like ‘a real Londoner’.

Laszlo Kemenen was on his way home from a gruelling shift counselling Grenfell survivors when he received a call about a van driven into mosque worshippers last June - and found himself comforting relatives of a man who died that night.

He had earlier been among the volunteers offering support to locals in the days following the London Bridge terror attacks on June 3 last year that left eight people dead and 48 injured.

Mr Kemenen, 33, began volunteering for the Red Cross as a 15-year-old, back home in his Romania’s Harghita county of eastern Transylvania.

He moved to London three years ago and has continued to support aid efforts - having previously done so in Slovenia and Germany - combining his current volunteering with his day job as an intensive care practitioner at Whipps Cross hospital in east London.

Reflecting on last year’s upheavals, he told Metro: ‘I felt so shocked, as everybody else, that these things were happening again - I couldn’t believe it.

‘Living in London, it feels even more personal - you know people involved.

‘But even with the training I’d had, I was asking myself: am I up to the task? Can I really help? It’s a massive challenge.

‘When I arrived on the scene there was still bleach on the pathways, to try to cover up the blood, as well as so many flowers and messages - it gets very personal, it really hits you.

He spent much of his time with a homeless woman traumatised by the attack, which was carried out by three terrorists who were shot dead by police.

He said: ‘She needed help - some accommodation, some contact with support services, and tracking down possessions she’d lost.

‘Thankfully we managed to find her somewhere to stay.

Within days he was heading to west London to help colleagues in the aftermath of the Grenfell blaze, providing psychological and practical support for survivors, victims’ families and nearby residents in the Westway Sports Centre.

He said: ‘The sadness and desperation of people, after such a massive loss of life - you feel so helpless, not being able to change what’s happened, but all the emergency services do their best to do what they can.

‘The local community mobilised so well as well - it was fantastic to see people coming together, bringing in food or clothing or furniture or any other items they could.

‘Whe I got there the fire was out but people were living in the rest centre, surrounded by a weird quiet calm but survivors comforting each other for the loved ones they’d lost.’

He raced to try to comfort a family desperately searching for a missing uncle, two agonising days after the blaze - but who were also keen to stress to volunteers just how much they appreciated their presence and input.

Mr Kemenen said: ‘Those were some of the most harrowing moments, really tough on those night shifts.’

Just as he was heading home on the Tube to Leytonstone in east London, from Grenfell, he learnt late at night on June 19 of the Finsbury Park attack - when far-right activist Darren Osborne deliberately drove his van into Muslim worshippers leaving an evening service at the nearby mosque.

Mr Kemenen recalled: ‘I wondered, can I respond, but the Red Cross was really, really stretched while setting up a relief centre really, really quickly - and I realised how serious it all was.

‘When I got there, there was the family of the man who sadly passed away - they needed help and comfort.’

He added: ‘The Red Cross is, in my opinion, the biggest fanily in the world.

‘Here, you always know you can rely on your colleagues for support, knowing we’re all human - but these are also amazing people helping everyone they can.

‘Until last year I felt like just another incomer in the UK, but after the attacks I saw how the whole city came together and felt I’d tried to do my best to help and be a part of this spirit of London.

‘Now I feel like more of a real Londoner rather than a foreigner.

‘It’s really sad, everything that’s happened, but there are lots of people trying to make a difference.’

A mother helped a survivor of the Manchester Arena blast come through a panic attack when returning to the scene of the trauma - and came to the aid of a child who escaped the Grenfell Tower blaze while he wondered whether his mother would choose to save him or his sister.

Julia Reason, 51, helped comfort mourning relatives as well as traumatised NHS staff at Oldham hospital’s morgue in the days following the Manchester terror attack before helping out at the tribute concert a fortnight later - and also headed to London to support victims of the Grenfell fire.

She recalls most vividly a young boy coming into the rescue centre outside Grenfell and asking his own mother whether she would have chosen to save first him or his sister.

And she also hurried to the aid of a girl who had survived the May 22 attack at Manchester Arena that killed 22 people and injured more than 500 but who felt overcome when attending the gig at the nearby Old Trafford cricket ground, for the ‘One Love’ memorial concert held two weeks later.

Mrs Reason, from Warrington in Cheshire, remembered: ‘It was the strangest feeling being there that night - you had people elated at the phenomenal music but then others who were obviously emotionally troubled, especially when coming into the arena or coming out - mostly coming out.

‘One of the older teenagers was having a panic attack, really struggling to make her way through the doors because it brought back memories of her escaping the attack.

‘I took my jacket off and put it around her, giving her a hug, and slowly she started to come round and did manage to get through.’

She describes her efforts at the morgue in the days following the attack as mainly providing ‘hugs and boxes of tissues’ but she and colleagues were providing psychological support and counselling, as well as practical guidance as to other social services.

SHe said: ‘No words can put things right but you just try to offer whatever support people reach out for.’

Mrs Reason herself shed tears when reading the cards and tributes left among the flowers piling up at the scene and across Manchester city centre in the attack’s aftermath, as well as when a minute’s silence was held three days on from the tragedy - before a spontaneous chorus of the Oasis song Don’t Look Back In Anger.

She said: ‘To protect myself I found I had to keep away from the flowers and cards - reading them affected me too much.

‘There were times when you had to give yourself five or ten minutes away from the scene to regroup in your own mind.

‘But the minute’s silence, in that big circle around the floral tributes, and then the singing of Don’t Look Back In Anger was amazing - a very powerful moment.’

Mrs Reason, who has two children, two stepchildren and five grandchildren, started volunteering for the British Red Cross eight years ago after being made redundant from her job as a truck driver.

She said: ‘I just wanted to do something different to fill my time.’

Much of her emergency response efforts are in a British Red Cross caravan which attends scenes such as house fires as well as more high-profile events such as last year’s terror attacks.

She added: ‘Last year was just unbelievable for the British Red Cross - the loss of life and the injuries caused by terror attacks and Grenfell was masssive and I felt humbled to be part of that humanitarian response.

‘And to also see just how much community support there was was also overwhelming - so many people pulling together.’

She travelled down to west London to provide similar help ay the Westway Sports Centre near Grenfell.

Among those coming in for help was the mother of a schoolboy who lost friends in the blaze and who was ‘really struggling’.

Mrs Reason recalled: ‘He turned to her and asked: “Who would you save, Mummy - me or my sister?”

‘For a child to even think and say that was heartbreaking.

‘We made a call to a team of psychologists and got an instant referral, which at least felt like some small achievement at least.’

The horror of the Grenfell Tower block blaze prompted a grandmother living in a rural and remote Northern Irish village to battle her fear of flying and board a plane to rush to help out.

Pearl Mullan, 57, from the 1,800-population village of Ballykelly in Londonderry, overcame her instincts when heading across the Irish Channel after being traumatised by last June’s tragedy.

It was both her first time on a plane and in London - though she has returned since, to take part in the Rankin photoshoot celebrating such British Red Cross volunteers for their ongoing efforts.

She said: ‘I almost felt more nervous getting on that first plane than I did helping out at Grenfell.

‘But I knew I had to put my name forward and go and do my bit - no matter how small, any contribution at all that might help someone.

‘I come from a wee country village and I’d never been in a situation like that before, but I wanted to offer any services and anything I could.’

Mrs Mullan worked in the relief centre based at the nearby Westway Sports Centre next-door to the tower where 71 people were killed by the blaze in the early hours of last June 14.

She and colleagues were not only handing out supplies such as food, water, ‘even nappies’. but also emotional aid and guidance towards other support services.

She said: ‘It was also really humbling to see how many people from the local community came out to do whatever they could too.’

She started volunteering for the British Red Cross 12 years ago after being inspired by medics who helped save the life of her son Lee when he suffered a heart attack aged 19.

Mrs Mullan, a primary school worker who has two other sons and four grandchildren, said: ‘I’d always wanted to volunteer and realised this was the cause that felt closest to me, to know that if something ever happened you’d know how to help.’

A Red Cross volunteer who lives in the shadow of the Grenfell Tower was moved to help after spotting the blaze raging from her window.

Farheen Chaudhry, 43, now wakes every morning to be reminded of the tragedy, as she cannot avoid seeing the skeletal shell of the burnt-out building.

But along with her sadness she feels proud of the efforts by both the British Red Cross and other members of the local community who did all they could in the immediate aftermath - while regretting they could not do even more.

While many relief efforts were based at the Westway Sports Centre, she was among those helping out at both the nearby Notting Hill Methodist Church and local mosques - providing information and advice as well as practical goods.

She has been volunteering for the British Red Cross for the past two years, specialising in refugee support and emergency response.

She said: ‘When I opened the blinds on the morning of the fire, it was surreal - I could see that the tower was on fire and that there was smoke, and helicopters circling overhead.

‘Straight away I knew that this was going to be a huge emergency as I had worked in disaster and emergency zones before and understood the implications.

‘When I first signed up to be an emergency response volunteer with the British Red Cross, I certainly didn’t expect that my local neighbourhood was going to experience an emergency like this.

‘Meeting people who had lost someone in the fire, or who had seen what happened up close, was the most emotionally taxing part.

‘I just wanted to help in some small way and I often wished that I could have done more - I have always felt that I just could not do enough.’