Are you community minded? Could you help your neighbours in an emergency
Reydon Community Emergency Planning Group (CEPG) has the aim of enhancing community resilience in Southwold and Reydon by:

• Identifying hazards within the location and community
• Identifying available assets and resources, and key contacts in the community
• Assisting in the identification of vulnerable people and groups within the community
• Coordinating how the local community might assist the emergency services, local authority, and other responding agencies
• Delivering the assistance identified

A risk assessment of the Town and Parish has identified the following primary risks:

• Flooding Coastal (including tidal surge) River Flooding
• Severe Weather Events
• Extended Utility Outages
• Major Fires

The group is not part of either Southwold or Reydon Councils, but is supported financially by both organisations.
The plan to deliver the aim and objectives is currently being rewritten and redeveloped and we are also running a recruitment drive to help us actually deliver the plan. We would, especially, like to recruit people who would be willing to help man the ‘Rest Centres’ that would be opened to temporarily house residents who might have had to evacuate from their homes in response to an adverse incident.
We already have identified Two Rest Centre Mangers for St. Edmund’s Church, St. Margaret’s Church, and The Millennium Hall and One each for the Reydon Parish Hall, and Southwold Sports Pavilion, but don’t currently have anyone for the United Reformed Church, or Reydon Sports Pavilion. Curtesy of East Suffolk District Council we will provide training for the Rest Centre Volunteers and Manager’s roles. Currently this by way of two half-day courses which are held locally.

In addition to the Rest Centre Volunteers and Managers, we would also welcome other volunteers who would be willing to undertake other roles such as Administrators, Social Media managers, Leaflet Delivery, Temporary Pet Fosterers. Please see overleaf for a description of the Rest Centre and other roles.

If you are interested in supporting the Local Community please email or call our Coordinator, Martin Nicholls at
SBCEPG@Outlook.com or 07963-869 744

Rest Centre Volunteers

Rest Centre volunteer roles suit people who have caring, empathic, interpersonal and face-to-face skills amongst others and enjoy a fluid ever-changing challenge. The local community volunteers can play a key part to provide ‘humanitarian assistance’ in supporting those who are temporarily unable to return to their own homes following an evacuation.

Rest Centre volunteers and managers (managers and team leaders with supervisory experience) receive the same training as Local Authority volunteers, so both understand the demands on the running of a Rest Centre and can complement each other’s activities. To manage a rest centre effectively, we need volunteers to take on the following tasks;

• reception and registration
• welfare
• information
• administration
• venue, staff and evacuee management

Administrators

Administrator roles suit people who are natural organisers and communicators. They are responsible for developing the Plan and liaising with relevant organisations and, vitally, the volunteers.
The principal organisations involved are Suffolk County Council, East Suffolk District Council, the owners of the Rest Centre facilities, and Southwold Town and Reydon Parish Councils.
Social Media & Communications Managers
The CEPG does not currently have a Social Media presence so this is an opportunity to create and develop line of communication with the Local Community and Volunteers.

Temporary Pet Fosters

One of the principal concerns of evacuated people is the welfare of their pets. This concern is so great the some will even put their own lives at risk and not evacuate. Not all our Rest Centres have the facilities to accommodate pets. To address this issue the CEPG are setting up a register of people who would be willing, at short-notice to look after a neighbour’s domestic pet, or pets, for up to 3 days.

Other Roles

Anyone with talents / skills / experience that they think would be beneficial to the community in the event of a local emergency are more than welcome too.