Are you prepared? This is the question we are encouraging parish and town councils to share with their communities to kick start a new campaign coinciding with National Preparedness Month this September.
Kent and Medway Resilience Forum (KMRF) has produced a 5-step guide with simple actions that residents can take to be better prepared for emergencies that may impact them, such as severe weather, flooding or a utility outage.
Many local parish and town councils are creating community resilience plans to help support a voluntary community response to the local impacts of emergencies. The new campaign, supported by the Kent Association of local Councils (KALC) is designed to help parishes get the message out to residents about the ways that they can help themselves become more self-resilient too.
KMRF Community Resilience Group Chair, Leanne McMahon, said: “There are simple steps that everyone can take to be better prepared, from signing up to receive weather warnings and flood alerts, to checking whether you, a loved-one, or neighbour are eligible to receive priority services from your utility company in the event of a supply outage.
“Proactive measures, like checking your home’s flood risk, packing a grab bag should you need to leave home at short notice, and developing an emergency plan, can increase your family’s safety and resilience should the unexpected happen.”
She added: “Local councils are ideally placed at the heart of their communities to get behind this campaign and their assistance to share these important, practical tips with residents is very much appreciated. We all have a role in helping to build more resilient, better prepared communities, so we urge other community groups to get involved too.”
Residents can learn more about each step by scanning the QR codes on the campaign posters or by visiting the web page www.kentprepared.org.uk/5-steps.
What you can do to help spread the word
The 5-steps guide has been created to share with local residents. You can do this is any of the following ways:
Download and print the 5-steps poster to display on your notice board and around your community from www.kentprepared.org.uk/5-steps
Include the 5-steps guide in your resident newsletter
Use details of the 5-steps on your parish/town council websites
Link to the Kent Prepared 5-steps campaign web page.
Organise a leaflet drop in your area with the 5-steps flyer
Share on your community’s social media channels, including any Facebook, Nextdoor or WhatsApp groups.
Find out more information on becoming better prepared visit www.kentprepared.org.uk/5-steps
Learn more about preparing a community resilience plan visit: www.kentprepared.org
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