Aneta Wujek from Communities 1st talks about the lessons the organisation learnt last winter, what they are planning this year, and the need they are anticipating for the coming months.
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Following discussions with partners and internally, one of the lessons drawn out from the heatwaves of 2022, was that many are unaware of the indirect or secondary impacts that heatwaves can have. By identifying these, and the communities who may be most affected, we can take action to try and mitigate the impacts, educate people, and potentially reduce the risk of the secondary emergency happening.
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Our May 2023 bulletin focused on Emergencies Partnership's response to the people fleeing the conflict in Sudan, planning for extreme weather, counterterrorism, and the continuing cost-of-living crisis.
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On World Meteorological Day we look at the changes Heatwaves and Flooding have had in the UK in recent years and also how the Cost of Living crisis is now adding to the erosion of resilience and what VCS organisations need to do to help their communities prepare for these shocks.
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Emergencies Partnership Director, Robyn Knox attended and spoke at the National Consortium for Societal Resilience – 2023 Conference, with the collective challenge in the room being the pathway to turn a national ambition for societal resilience into reality at a local level. With representatives from academics, voluntary sector, business, health, national government representatives alongside local authority and resilience representatives, Robyn shares her reflections and key takeaways for VCS partners
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Find out how organisations from the Emergencies Partnership came together to help increase the number of volunteers to support the Felix Project during the busy Christmas season
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At a panel discussion in January 2023, a number of our partners shared their experiences, good practice and lessons learnt from running Warm Spaces for their communities. We also interviewed Aneta Wujek, Policy and Networks Coordinator at Communities 1st, about their experiences of warm spaces and what they are learning about the challenges facing people in their communities.
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Addressing emergencies in London is demanding. The scale and complexity of the city, as well as the huge range and diversity of its charities and community groups, requires significant resources, knowledge and information sharing. It also needs organisations with expertise in emergency response as well as charities and groups with vital local knowledge about communities who can apply this when an emergency strikes..
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Given the unpredictable nature of emergencies, Regional Engagement Manager — Becky Maynard writes about the importance to making the connections before we need them
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CEO of CAN, Karen Loftus talks to Georgia Allen about impact that volunteers can have and how it is important their service is never taken for granted
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At times of emergency, whether that be the Afghan evacuation, war in Ukraine, or heatwave fires in the summer, the public’s generosity often leads to a large influx of donated items. Havering Volunteer Centre has been involved in all three of these responses and has witnessed the challenges that surplus donated goods can bring. Their CEO, Shelley Hart, explored this complex issue with us and discussed what they’ve learnt from dealing with this issue three times in the past year.
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It is thought that between 11 and 12 million people in the UK have some form of hearing loss, with between 900,000 and 1.2 million of these people being severely or profoundly deaf. It is therefore imperative that we reflect on how inclusive our preparedness planning is by looking at how people who are deaf or hard of hearing have been affected by previous emergencies and considering how they could be impacted in the future.
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When an emergency strikes it can be anything from hyperlocal to regional, national to global and this means that the number and demographic of people affected can also vary greatly. It is vital that there is diversity in emergency planning and preparedness to represent the different communities who may be affected and therefore try to reduce the disproportionate impacts within society.
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At the beginning of 2022, Age UK’s charity director, Caroline Abrahams, warned the government that rising fuel bills could be a national emergency for older people. In April, National Energy Action, a national fuel poverty charity, said fuel poverty was becoming a “national health emergency.” Similarly, Emma Revie, chief executive of the Trussell Trust, said that, “By failing to make benefits payments realistic for the times we face, the government now risks turning the cost of living crisis into a national emergency.” There is clear concern from national charities as to the impact that the current cost-of-living crisis will have on the most vulnerable in society.
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Today feels very heavy. I’m sure all of us have seen at least one article or tweet or comment today that takes us back to that horrible night and following day when the smoke bellowed across West London. 72 people lost their lives, and it is the stories from the families, the survivors, neighbours and communities who loved and lost those 72 people and continue to feel the impact of that night, that still hits the hardest.
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Georgia Allen highlights the link between the on-going war in Ukraine and the rising risk of human trafficking
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At our Network Call in May 2022, we were joined by Figen Murray OBE. Figen’s son, Martyn Hett, was one of 22 people who lost their lives in the Manchester Arena attack, and since his death, Figen has taken forward the learnings from the attack and told us about her journey over the last five years.
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The Emergencies Partnership were requested by the Home Office to provide additional help co-ordinating sector support for the Afghan arrivals and the wrap around support for the bridging accommodation.
A critical role that the Partnership played was the effective co-ordination at each stage of support required for the situation. We connected partners - collecting the donations that have come in from generous members of the public, sorting them for use, to packaging and distribution of these to the quarantine hotels – so that together we have been able to meet the needs of the evacuees.
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