Children earn special emergency preparedness awards in Gravesham and Dartford initiative

The Duke of Cornwall Community Safety Awards took place over a 4 week period

Young people from Dartford and Gravesham have learned how to keep themselves safe and have become better prepared for emergencies thanks to a new initiative in the area led by their local Kent County Council (KCC) Community Wardens.

Eighteen children were invited to participate in a series of Duke of Cornwall Community Safety Awards sessions which ran over a four-week period. They took part in a range of activities at the Dartford Healthy Living Centre focussed on increasing their awareness of emergencies and hazards and learning how to keep themselves and others safe.

The Duke of Cornwall Community Safety Award is a national scheme that helps young people learn what to do in a range of emergency situations, such as severe weather, flooding, a pandemic, or a long-term power cut, and broadens their knowledge and awareness of emergency response and community resilience.

Aimed at children and young people between the ages of 5 and 18, there are three difference award stages, The Home Award for 5-10 year olds, The Neighbourhood Award for 10-15 year olds, The Community Award for 13-18 year olds.

The KCC Community Warden team enhanced the programme to include practical and engaging sessions on first aid, rail safety, and water safety. These sessions included talks from Kent fire and Rescue Service, Southeastern Railway, South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, Dartford Lions, and Fairfield Leisure. Topics included:

• What to include in a household emergency grab bag

• Making a household emergency plan and escape routes

• Basic first aid and CPR

• Rail safety awareness

• Water safety tips

• Hygiene, health, and infectious disease prevention.

Jacqueline Fuller, KCC Community Warden Team Leader, who coordinated the initiative, said: “By educating and training children about safety and emergency preparedness, they can pass on the knowledge to family and friends and use the skills they learn to help support their communities during a crisis.

“The children really engaging with the sessions and it was great also to see them gain confidence too as their interest and involvement grow in the topics we were covering. Building on the success of these sessions, we are now planning further events for Spring 2026”.

At the end of the sessions a special awards ceremony was held, where children gave short presentations about what they learned, and they were all presented with their award certificates and badges by the Mayor of Dartford, Peter Whapshott.

Jacqueline added: “I would like to pass on my thanks to our partners who delivered the sessions and helped to make this initiative such a success, the Kent and Medway Resilience Forum for its support, and local businesses the Co-op and Krispy Kreme for donating refreshments and sweet treats for the awards event.”

Encouraging children and young people to think about how to prepare, plan for, and respond to emergencies can help build more resilient communities.

More about the Duke of Cornwall Community Safety Awards

To learn more about the Duke of Cornwall Community Safety Awards visit: Youth resources | Kent Prepared 

The award scheme is free to access, all of the resources are available on the Youth resources | Kent Prepared and sessions can be run independently by youth organisations such as brownies, guides and cadets, schools, college, community groups, or with individuals with a parent or carer.

Read some of the testimonials from youth groups that had run the awards here.