Report reveals majority of people in Devon want to help in an emergency in their area but nearly half don’t know how
A new report published by the British Red Cross and Aviva shows that the majority of people in Devon want to help if disaster strikes in their community but would not know what to do. (1)
The report, ‘When Crisis Hits: mobilising kindness in our communities’, published today, reveals that nine in ten people (90%) in Devon say that if an emergency happened in their community they would want to get involved, yet nearly half (45%) of people would not know what to do if a disaster struck.
The British Red Cross, in partnership with Aviva, is calling on people across Devon to sign up to a new scheme called community reserve volunteers, to help create a national network of people ready to help in a local emergency.
The scheme hopes to recruit 10,000 community reserve volunteers across the UK by the end of 2019. It takes just ten minutes to sign up at redcross.org.uk/reserves
The volunteers don’t need any specialist skills and will be called in if crisis strikes in their area. It’s quick and easy to sign up online and community reserve volunteers will be contacted by text if there is an emergency in their community they could help with. They will undertake vital jobs like packing food parcels, blowing up airbeds for rest centres and filling sandbags in times of flooding.
The call for people to sign up comes after the British Red Cross experienced one of the busiest years since WWII, assisting 9,300 people in more than 1,500 emergencies across the UK in 2017, including terror attacks in London and Manchester, and the Grenfell Tower fire.
As part of the report published today, the British Red Cross and Aviva surveyed more than 4,000 UK adults about how prepared they are for a local emergency.
The findings showed that:
More than nine in ten people (91%) in Devon who had experienced a major emergency helped or had wanted to help
Two thirds of people (63%) in Devon who had been involved in a major emergency felt there was more their community could have done to help if they knew how
Last year’s events in London and Manchester have heightened our awareness of crisis response in the UK. Nearly six in ten people (57%) in Devon feel it’s more likely that their community could be vulnerable to a major incident in the future
The research also highlighted that people want to help, but don’t always know how. 98% of people in Devon feel it’s important to know how they can help in an emergency to help speed up the recovery. The biggest reasons that would hold people back from helping in an emergency in Devon were not knowing how they could help (27%) and being afraid of doing the wrong thing (21%).
Fae Krakowska, 24, a Masters student at Exeter University, signed up as a community reserve volunteer after assisting the British Red Cross response to the Grenfell Tower fire last year. She said: “Community means to me people cooperating and coming together to solve a problem or to help each other out. It comes with a sense of solidarity and a willingness to participate and everyone getting involved.
“As a Masters student I have quite a busy schedule. A lot of the volunteer roles take quite a lot of time commitment, so I think it is particularly appealing for students because you can give as much or as little time as you like. And it is always nice to feel like you can be actively involved in what your community is doing to help out, if something does happen.”
Simon Lewis, Head of Crisis Response at the British Red Cross, said: “The British Red Cross responds to a UK emergency every four hours.
“Last year we faced a huge number of major emergencies like those in London and Manchester. They brought tragedy to so many people, but we witnessed remarkable acts of kindness and saw that people really want to give practical help when crisis hits.
“The findings of our report with Aviva show that despite this desire to help, people often don’t know how best to assist or worry they don’t have the right skills to get involved.
“By creating a national taskforce of community reserve volunteers we want to put local people at the heart of emergency response, to help communities rebuild and recover faster.
“Everyone has a role to play when disaster strikes, even the smallest act of kindness can make a huge difference. It’s quick and easy to sign up online community reserve volunteers, you don’t need specialist skills and we need your help now more than ever.”
Graham Brogden, Head of Property Technical Claims at Aviva UK, said: “At Aviva we understand how traumatic and disruptive major events can be to communities. Our own claims teams are often among the first on the ground when incidents occur and we see first-hand how important it can be for communities to pull together in times of crisis.
“That’s why we’re proud to be launching the community reserve volunteer programme as part of our ongoing partnership with the British Red Cross. By recruiting 10,000 volunteers across the UK, we hope to support the vital work of emergency responders and the British Red Cross teams in helping communities manage the unexpected, as well as help prevent or limit the damage caused.
“The community reserve volunteer programme is the latest initiative in our three-year partnership with the British Red Cross to help make communities stronger and safer. Sadly not every emergency can be prevented, but by equipping volunteers with the skills they need, we can help bring neighbours together to make the difference they want to should the worst happen.”
To be a community reserve volunteer you don’t need specialist skills to make a difference and simple acts of kindness can make big difference. Any necessary training will be given at the scene of the crisis and you can confirm your availability when you are contacted.
To learn more about the British Red Cross’ Community Reserve Volunteer scheme with Aviva and how to sign up, visit: redcross.org.uk/reserves
