COMMUNITIES from across Devon are joining forces to develop their local resilience and emergency plans.

Emergencies can happen at any time, day or night. Nearly all emergencies are dealt with routinely by emergency services, local authorities, utilities and voluntary agencies all working in partnership. But, there are times when their assistance may not be immediately available. For example, in the event that the incident is widespread, or if your community is temporarily isolated.

Communities spontaneously pull together to overcome emergencies; community resilience is the ability of a village or town to prepare for and manage an emergency, either alongside the emergency services or in the absence of emergency services due to abnormal conditions. Communities can do this by preparing a Community Emergency Plan. Creating a Community Emergency Plan is not complicated, but it can sometimes be challenging to know where to start and what content to include.

Emergency responders across Devon are keen to support communities with expert advice and encouragement. This is why key agencies and organisations across Devon — the police, fire service, Environment Agency, Devon County Council, Plymouth and Torbay councils, district councils, Devon Communities Together and the Devon Association of Local Councils have come together to form the Devon Community Resilience Forum.

The aim of the forum is to work with communities and individuals to harness local resources and expertise to help plan how to prepare, respond and recover from events such as flooding. The forum is also bringing together community representatives and practitioners to consider key resilience issues and provide communities with advice and support.

Devon Communities Together, because of its wide experience of working with local communities and a wide range of resilience issues, will manage the forum. It will also host the forum website which provides supporting materials, such as a Community Emergency Plan template, guidance and case studies.

There will be two Devon Community Resilience Forum events every year, comprising talks, workshops and a marketplace for resilience products. Community members will be able to seek opportunities to network with fellow communities, to share ideas, lessons learned and provide mutual support.