Community resilience
Community resilience is about local individuals and community groups coming together in the event of an incident or emergency and pulling together their local resources and expertise to help themselves and each other. This often complements the response provided by the emergency services and can be beneficial to all members of the community, especially in large scale events where the emergency responders' resources are stretched.
There are several ways you can help your community be more resilient, whether at work or at home. It's useful to know whether a neighbour or colleague may need extra help during a crisis and how you can help them. Pay attention to anyone who may be vulnerable such as an elderly person, someone with a disability, a heavily pregnant lady, or those with babies or small children. Pass this information to the emergency services. Don't put yourself at risk.
Often times those affected or displaced are temporarily put up in a nearby rest centre. If you have skills that may be useful, you can offer to help out if necessary. Perhaps you can translate for someone else who can't speak English. Offering someone a cup of tea and a listening ear can be very comforting during these times also.
Volunteering
The voluntary sector is a great source of help to the emergency services during an emergency. You can become a volunteer to help improve community preparedness. There are many organisations you can join, including:
Page last updated: 23 September 2022
