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The Russian Red Cross in Great Britain (founded in 1893), was revitalised around 1920, and set out to provide relief for people exiled from Russia and their children who found sanctuary in Great Britain following the Russian Revolution of 1917. Those exiles were people of all walks of life, many of whom found it difficult to adapt to a new way of life in a foreign country. Further emigration of Russians to the Great Britain occurred following World War Two, and comprised people who had suffered under both German and Russian oppression, or were escaping forced repatriation within the USSR.
In 1948, the International Red Cross rules that only the national Red Cross can function in a country and asked the Society to change its name and discontinue the use of the Red Cross emblem. The name was altered to the 'Russian Benevolent Society 1917'.
In the 1960s, the Society purchased three number of houses in the Chiswick area of London, including 56 Woodstock Rd, and 6 Arbinger Rd, and 16 The Avenue. These were run as hostels, particularly for elderly, ill or disabled people formerly from Russia, and were Russian speaking communities. The society also provided small grants to people in need or to relieve immediate distress. Its chief fundraising activities were an Annual Christmas Bazaar and two general appeals for funds each year.
The Society operates as an independent, non-political charity, registered under the War Charities Act 1940. The name was altered to the Russian Refugees Aid Society in 1978. Very few Russians were allowed to leave the USSR until its collapse in 1991. Since then the Society's focus has altered to providing immediate relief to refugees from the former Soviet republics, and assisting them in dealing with government authorities.