Taking up the Disaster Response Challenge

Graham McKay faced the challenge of a lifetime participating in the Disaster Response Challenge organised by the British Red Cross.

Graham, 39, is usually seen sitting behind a desk or supporting clients creating and managing plans for their businesses to cope with disasters in his role as Risk, Security and Business Continuity Manager with brightsolid in Dundee, but over the weekend of 11^th, 12^th and 13^th September 2009 he swapped his desk for the primitive conditions of the British Red Cross' Bramley Training Area where he was thrown in at the deep end.

"I've planned for these types of events in business for the last seven years and fortunately until now haven't had to respond to a true emergency." says Graham. "This gave me the opportunity to put my day job into practice in a pressurised real life scenario, whilst learning about and contributing to the excellent work undertaken in disaster zones around the world by the British Red Cross"

The hard work was worthwhile. Graham raised £800 for The British Red Cross, helping them continue their work in disaster response.

"In a funny sort of way, I really relished the challenge. Although not exactly sure what I was going to face, working in an unfamiliar environment helped me improve my leadership and teamwork skills. It also gave me a fantastic insight into how these professionals manage the challenges thrown at them.

My colleagues at brightsolid have been very generous and the company has matched their donations as part of its corporate social responsibility policy."