How to work with other groups in your community.
Our community’s responses to an emergency are stronger when different groups work together.This guide explains how to build links with other groups before, during and after an emergency.
Why is this important?
Communities that are connected can share resources, support each other and act together. This helps them prepare for, respond to and recover from emergencies. Strong community connections also build trust, making people more likely to listen to and act on advice during an emergency. This can ultimately help to keep people safe and save lives.
Studies have shown that more connected communities can show signs of reduced stress and anxiety and enhance life satisfaction.
What can my community do?
- Building a sense of shared identity helps build trust and support.
- Building trust and support makes it easier to work together.
- Working together will make your community stronger in an emergency.
Build links across your community
Aim to build and strengthen links between different community groups, such as:
- volunteer groups
- youth groups
- older adult groups
- faith groups
- sport and activity groups
- parent and carer groups
- neighbourhood associations
- local businesses
- Online networks and communities
Encourage people to support local networks and community activities. For example, share news about local events and invite people to come along.
Tell people about local ways to keep in touch, like local WhatsApp groups, Facebook pages, NextDoor channels or other networks. Find out more about Communications here.
You may also be able to help keep community meeting spaces open and welcoming to all members of the local area. Find out more about Places and Spaces here.
A strong network of local organisations and leaders can help you involve more local people in plans for emergencies.
Remember to include groups who might otherwise be left out of emergency planning. This might include:
- Young people
- Older adults
- People living with disabilities and health conditions
- People with different faith and ethnic backgrounds
They will have important skills and experiences. Reach out to groups that already work with them to help you include them.
Build relationships with official organisations
In England and Wales, your Local Resilience Forum is responsible for emergency planning in your area. They bring together representatives from local public services, including the emergency services, local authorities, the NHS and others. In Scotland, Regional Resilience Partnerships play the same role. In Northern Ireland, there are Emergency Preparedness Groups.
These groups are required to plan and respond to emergencies so your community connections can help them during times of need but only if they know you are prepared and ready to help.
Reach out to your local emergency planners and offer your support to add ways to support them in an emergency.
For example:
- You may have places or spaces that could be suitable for them to use in an emergency.
- You may be able to help them with your local knowledge and skills.
Together, you can agree on how your community group can support official emergency responders in an emergency.
Experts may be able to help you think through your preparedness planning. They may also ask community groups to test responses during practices that they run through the year.
Each LRF will also have a Community Risk Register. This sets out the main emergencies that could affect your local area. Can your group help prepare for these specific emergencies? Many LRFs have clear asks from their communities. Could you support them directly?
Communicate clearly with your wider community
Work with other groups to share messages, skills and resources.
Small changes to the language used, like talking about ‘all of us’ and ‘our community’ can help build a sense of shared community identity. Talk about your shared goals as a community and avoid language that divides people.
During an emergency
Across the country, communities are often the first to respond to crises. Friends, neighbours and local groups will help people who need support.
They play a very important role in crisis response. However, your group should support the official response. It should not replace it.
Communicate clearly in a way that brings people together
Clearly explain what has happened. There is more guidance on Communications here.
- Talk about the emergency as a challenge you all share, not a set of separate problems.
- Talk about shared goals and encourage people to see themselves as part of the shared response.
- Talk about what everyone can do, and how people can help each other.
Treat the emergency as something the community has faced together, while recognising that people may have been affected in different ways.
Help people to help each other
When it is safe, encourage people to help each other.
Your community can:
- Share information about how people can help each other and access support
- Share information that helps different groups work together
- Create opportunities for people to help each other, when it is right to do so
- Work with other groups on joint projects
Thank people and groups in the community when they help each other. A simple “thank you” and “well done” can show that their hard work matters.
Telling others about people or groups who are helping may encourage more people to help. Always treat the people you help and those that want to support others, with respect and kindness.
Look after the volunteers
Try not to rely too much on a small group of people. Aim to grow your group and set up clear rotas. More detail on this can be found in People and Skills.
Think about both physical and emotional tiredness. People can be under a lot of pressure during a crisis and may feel tired or overwhelmed.
Support your people so that they can keep helping others. Make sure they:
- Take breaks
- Have what they need to stay warm or keep cool
- Get food and drink
- Have people to talk to about how they feel
Be fair and open about support
Share out support fairly, and be open about how you decide who gets it.
Sometimes, groups affected by an emergency get more support than others. If people think support is not fair, it will damage the sense of community.
Think about which groups might get left out of support and why. Then:
- Reach out to other groups to find out what support they need
- Find out which other organisations can help
Encourage community champions and peer leaders
Trusted people can be very good at passing on messages. Try to find community leaders and champions that different parts of the community trust.
Many different kinds of people can help you reach different communities. Different kinds of ‘leader’ could include:
- A youth sports coach
- A pub landlord
- A teacher
- A faith leader
- A local business owner
- A local charity or voluntary group leader
- An online community host
The skills audit across your group can also help you find people who speak the same languages as different audiences or have access to key essentials and equipment.
Set up welcoming spaces
You may be able to set up safe spaces for people affected by the emergency. Where, they can meet, talk and share their worries. More guidance can be found in the module on Places and Spaces.
Make sure that these spaces are welcoming for everyone. For example:
- Can people using wheelchairs, mobility aids or pushchairs get in and move around?
- Is there somewhere quiet for people who need a break from noise or crowds?
- Can people easily find out where to go and what help is available?
- Is information available in different languages or formats if needed?
- Are there toilets, seating and somewhere to charge a phone?
- Is there enough privacy for someone who wants to talk about a sensitive issue?
- Are there people on hand who can offer a friendly welcome and help someone find the support they need?
A friendly welcome for everyone will make a big difference in an emergency.
After an Emergency
Recovery is the time after an emergency when people and communities rebuild.
Your community group can help the broader community stay connected.
Support between people can fade over time. That support matters just as much in recovery as it did during the emergency.
A community where people are connected and care for each other will also help you find volunteers and networks for planning for future emergencies.
Support group conversations
After an emergency, people may find it helpful to talk to others who have been through a similar experience. This is sometimes called peer support.
Your community group could create opportunities for people to meet, talk about what happened and support each other as they recover. These could be open to everyone or aimed at a particular part of the community.
For example:
- a residents’ group could organise regular meetings led by local people
- a café or community centre could host an informal drop-in
- a library could provide a space for people to meet and talk
- local groups could organise coffee mornings or community meals
- your group could reflect on your plans and share what worked and what could be improved
Talking to others can help people make sense of their own experiences and feel less alone. It can also help the community understand what happened, stay connected and support each other through recovery.
Hold community events
Community events like marking the anniversary of an emergency, can be an important time for the community to come together.
More information can be found in the Events module.
Events are a good way to celebrate what the community has achieved and mark steps in recovery. You can hold events to recognise the hard work of volunteers and residents.
Events can also be a time to recognise what people lost. Plan these events with great care, and with the people and groups who were most affected by the emergency.
Events give people a space to share experiences and stories, including about how they worked together.
Sometimes, events can also be used to:
- Involve more residents in plans for future emergencies
- Raise money for local projects, including projects led by survivors.
- support ongoing community projects and volunteer work
- Tell survivors about support available to them
Make sure that recovery support is fair
Fairness is important, and communities can suffer when some groups feel that they are not treated equally. People can be affected by an emergency in different ways, and some people may find it harder to access support than others.
Stay connected to groups who may be more likely to be left out, like minority groups.
Communities have an important role to play in making sure that recovery efforts are fair. They may know about people who are missing out or barriers that are making it difficult for them to get help. Your group may be able to:
- Find out early which groups might be left out
- Keep track of who is being left out of recovery activities
- ask different parts of the community what support they need
- listen to concerns about the support available
Share what your group learns with other support groups and responder organisations, as this can help them improve the services and support their offer in the future.