The Land Rover Defender marks 70 years of partnership with the British Red Cross

Land Rover’s Defender brand is marking the 70th anniversary of its association with the British Red Cross, one of the longest-standing charity partnerships of its kind in the world.

The brand, these days known simply as Defender but formerly associated with the Land Rover Defender range of vehicles, can trace its roots back to the first Series Land Rover, which made its world debut at the Amsterdam Motor Show in April 1948 and entered service with the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement in 1954.

A Land Rover Defender on duty for the British Red Cross in the Cayman Islands

This year marks 70 years since that Land Rover – a specially adapted model used as a mobile dispensary – went into service in the deserts of Dubai. After the first mobile dispensary went into service in 1954, several Series I Land Rovers were dispatched to Kenya to support nurses with providing medical and welfare services to women and children in the forest villages of the Nyeri district.

Two early Series Land Rovers on location for the Red Cross in India

In 1968, vehicles were sent to Nigeria to support the humanitarian efforts of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies during the Biafran Conflict, while Land Rovers distributed aid in the aftermath of the Andhra Pradesh cyclone in India in 1977.

Between 2008 and 2009, Defenders were involved in hurricane response operations in both the Turks and Caicos and the Cayman Islands. They also supported sanitation projects and training exercises in Tajikistan in 2015.

More recently, Defender played a key role during the Covid-19 pandemic, with a fleet of vehicles deployed with the British Red Cross to deliver medicine and food to vulnerable people across the UK.

“The long-standing partnership between Defender and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement shows what can be achieved when working together with a lasting commitment,” said Mark Cameron, Managing Director, Defender.

“What started in the deserts of Dubai and forest villages of Kenya in 1954 has become part of our DNA. Together, we provide vital assistance for humanity, often when the tarmac runs out and in the harshest of conditions.”

A trusty (and dusty) Series Land Rover with locals in Nigeria

Defender’s commitment to supporting communities in crisis continues with the announcement of its latest flagship project, appropriately located in Italy, where the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement was born 160 years ago.

The anniversary will be marked by Defender providing the Italian Red Cross with a specially-equipped Defender 130 Outbound. The vehicle has been modified to handle emergencies and is fitted with advanced satellite communications hardware to ensure relief efforts aren’t compromised by cellular network outages.

Land Rover estimates its combined humanitarian work with the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement has impacted more than two million lives in the past 70 years, including in Australia where Defender supports the Australian Red Cross with its disaster recovery and emergency service efforts, and community disaster resilience work in NSW.

Defender is also an active participant in key international projects around the globe including the UK, Italy, Nepal Switzerland, and Morocco.