Emergency Plan

Current Community Emergency Plan

Community Briefing

24th May 2021

Dear Neighbours,

This update is to inform you that we have now launched the official Community Emergency Plan (CEP) , which can be seen above. This has been developed in tandem with Devon Communities Together, by Welcombe CERT and the Parish Council. Everyone is welcome to view/download it.

In addition to the Emergency Plan for the community, there is also a template for you to make your own Home Emergency plan. This helps you plan for what to do in the event of fire, flood, extreme weather and other unforeseen circumstances. This means that in a wider emergency you would be part of the solution, not part of the problem. We hope you find it useful, but if you would like help putting your plan together you can contact mickgates@icloud.com

Here is the Home Plan https://docs.google.com/document/d/1I0Nu1V2byei-616hhQJpr4TeiIBMpvBUuaRwODu7BqE/edit?usp=sharing

Why do we need CERT?

CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) has been conceived as a mechanism to develop and deliver an Emergency Plan for Welcombe. The Emergency Plan is there to help prepare us and coordinate our response to any kind of emergency that affects our community. It is not designed to take the place of the emergency services, or the district or county council, but to act as a stopgap between the beginning of an emergency and the arrival of emergency services, which depending on the type of event could be short, medium or long term. CERT will have no powers and is there as a community service, not to act as a Police force, or any other law enforcement entity. We are here to help!

Community Spirit

We recognise this community already has a fabulous can do attitude and will always rally to help those in need. This plan is designed not to replace what has traditionally been there, but to make the most of that attitude and put it to use in an organised coordinated way so everyone’s effort has the maximum impact.

Coronavirus / COVID-19

CERT was fist deployed during the initial pandemic lockdown in March 2020, with great success. A range of services were put together which served the community, in what was, for everyone an extremely worrying and of course novel time. Twenty nine people volunteered during the pandemic and feely gave their time to serve the community. In subsequent lockdowns, these services were scaled right back to just a prescription delivery service, as it transpired most people had adjusted well to the new reality and also people had their own support networks in place- resilience!

What is CERT doing now?

We currently have 20 volunteers ready to help in various capacities. A training program, to help upskill the volunteers in certain areas is being developed and our first face to face meeting takes place in June- Covid restrictions allowing!

Going forward we will hold various training sessions and exercises around the village to test the plan and the newly learned skills.

In the meantime if there are any further volunteers we would like to hear from you. Please call or email Mick Gates using the details below. We particularly would like to hear from anyone who like to fulfil the roles of Deputy Coordinator or Community Shelter Coordinator.

Don't hesitate to contact us if you have any ideas or queries,

Hoping you all stay safe and healthy

Mick Gates - 07501 494541 / mickgates@icloud.com