Village prepared for a crisis with new kit worth £600

Locals in Measham are the first in the county to receive equipment which will help in an emergency. The village is benefiting from a new scheme which encourages people to prepare for the worst – such as flooding, storms and other unexpected events.

Communities which come together and write a plan to show how they’d deal with a crisis can choose items worth £600 for a special community store. Measham Parish Council led the work following the flooding in North West Leicestershire last June.

Being prepared is one of our top priorities and having a proper plan in place has always been an aim. The flooding last summer prompted us to take action sooner rather than later. We were supported throughout by a resilience expert. We used a simple template to develop a plan for how our community would quickly organise a response to future incidents.
Colin Maniford, Measham Parish Council

Julia Draycon leads LLR Prepared, the local resilience forum which brings together councils, the emergency services and other partners. She said: “We launched this scheme in December and we’re really pleased to mark the delivery of the first emergency store. Communities can find it daunting to start with a blank sheet for their response plans – but we can help with specialist advice, tools and templates.

“If anyone else is interested in how their community can benefit from a plan – and the kit that goes with it - I’d urge them to get in touch via our website at www.llrprepared.org.uk .”

Villagers from Measham will receive their emergency store at a special event on 2pm on Thursday 11 May. Representatives from the parish, councils, police and Environment Agency will be attending.