Jaguar/Land Rover Donate Redirect Hundreds of Vehicles From Press Fleet To Red Cross

Jaguar / Land Rover (JLR) has redirected hundreds of its vehicles to the Red Cross. The vehicles were pulled from service across the JLR corporate fleets. One of the largest sources of the vehicles was 57 vehicles including 27 New Defender SUVs from the press fleet put into service with the British Red Cross to deliver medicine and food to vulnerable people, including the elderly, across the UK. Although we directly benefit from press vehicles, everyone at Torque News offers our support to JLR for this decision.

Protective equipment is being donated by JLR to the National Health Service. These include wraparound safety glasses to the Royal Bolton Hospital, St James’s Hospital in Leeds and Birmingham Children’s Hospital.

“The health and safety of our employees, customers and their families remains our priority,” said Finbar McFall, Jaguar Land Rover Customer Experience Director. “Jaguar and Land Rover will do everything we can to support people in need around the world. Our partnership with the Red Cross goes back 65 years and we will work hand in hand with them to do all we can during this global health emergency. We will also provide help to those closer to home in our local communities. We can all play a part in helping the vulnerable during this global pandemic.”

“This unprecedented global health emergency requires us all to pull together,” said Simon Lewis, Head of Crisis Response, British Red Cross. “As part of the British Red Cross response to coronavirus, we’re delving deep into the heart of communities across the UK to help strengthen support for the most vulnerable people through delivering essential food parcels and medicines to those unable to get out.” Lewis added, “We have been overwhelmed by the kindness shown across the country, not only by our increasing number of volunteers, but also our longstanding partners. Thanks to Land Rover’s generous support, our Emergency Response teams in the UK will be to reach even more people living in isolated communities than we could alone.”

In times of crisis, we try our best to highlight the good deeds from automakers. However, like many of those who build automobiles, JLR's commitment continues even in the best of times. Land Rover and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) have worked together for over 65 years.

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John Goreham is a life-long car nut and recovering engineer. John's focus areas are technology, safety, and green vehicles. In the 1990s, he was part of a team that built a solar-electric vehicle from scratch. His was the role of battery thermal control designer. For 20 years he applied his engineering and sales talents in the high tech world and published numerous articles in technical journals such as Chemical Processing Magazine. In 2008 he retired from that career and dedicated himself to chasing his dream of being an auto writer. In addition to Torque News, John's work has appeared in print in dozens of American newspapers and he provides reviews to many vehicle shopping sites. You can follow John on Twitter, and view his credentials at Linkedin.