Case studies
Shared experiences of community resilience planning
Learn from others about how they are supporting local community resilience in Kent and Medway.
If you have a case study or example you would like to share about how you are helping your community to become better prepared for the impacts of emergencies please email the details to krfcommunityresilience@kent.fire-uk.org
Staplehurst Emergency Help Team volunteers at the ready
Staplehurst Emergency Help Team (SEHT)
This highly organised team was originally set up by volunteers to support the community, following a major fire in the large village of Staplehurst, Kent in 2010. With many residents needing to be evacuated from their homes, it was identified that more localised plans were needed to better support such incidents. Since then, the team has grown from strength to strength, with around 35 local volunteers who can be called upon around the clock to provide extra help when needed for this rural community hub located south of Maidstone, in Kent.
Getting organised
In video, Team member Chis Rhodes talks about how the team organises itself and the kinds of emergencies it can be called on to assist with. He discusses local risks for the surrounding area, the parish’s emergency resilience plans, and the roles activities they team may be activated to undertake before, during and after an emergency.
The team has a range of skills and competencies, personal protective gear and communications equipment, and many of the volunteers team have completed free online training courses offered by Communities Prepared, including preparing for snow, flooding and utilities outages.
Assessing the risks
A key risk in the village is isolation of the community due to in impacts of storms and fallen trees in the village and keeping the vital road artery that runs through. Chris is keen to highlight that they are in no way a replacement to the emergency services who have the statutory responsibility to deal with such incidents and maintain public safety. They can, however, provide appropriate practical support when needed and act as a vital on-the-ground link, offering a helping hand and support the community during emergencies.
Community support
The SEHT is well established within the community, and their volunteers run a local emergency helpline, as well as a Facebook page to communicate and update residents. The team is run independently, with support from the parish council, local donations, grants, and fundraising efforts. Volunteers can often be seen out and about raising awareness about the team at local events, assuring people that help is at hand when needed.
Advice to other parish and town councils starting out
Chris’s advice to other parishes looking to provide similar resilience support to their community is to keep it simple - work out what you want to help with, work to your strengths and capabilities, and tailor you plan to do what you can to be helpful with the resources that you have, while ensuring that you are staying safe and not putting yourselves at risk.
The team would be happy to talk with anyone who wishes to learn more about the team and what community resilience planning involves
Bough Beech broadband and phone line outage leads to a rethink on local resilience
Do you need help to create your parish council community resilience plan?
This case study features Chiddingstone Parish Councillor Kerry Outlaw discussing how the entire village of Bough Beech in rural west Kent was impacted by an internet and land line phone outage for 11 days following a road traffic collision.
Cllr Outlaw outlines the challenges it placed on this rural community and what they learned. She also highlights how helpful it would have been to have had a community resilience plan in place to support residents during this incident.
It has since prompted a pilot project to create a community resilience plan across a cluster of neighbouring parishes, looking at jointly planning for all different types of potential risks and emergencies that could impact the area.
Visit our community resilience planning page for guidance and templates here
Or email our team for support at KRFcommunityresilience@kent.fire-uk.org