Community Resilience

Halswell has been through a few emergencies together, during which we have each supported our community in various ways. All of us take part in responding to an emergency – some of our groups and organisations may have more formal responsibilities and arrangements, while others fully rely on the goodwill and dedication of a few staff and volunteers to do what needs doing at the time. The more we understand each other’s roles, capabilities, and limitations, the more we connect and plan together, the better we will get through together as a community. 

A few of us have started the process of developing a Community Response Plan. This is not about recreating the formal responses of Civil Defence or formulating a fixed plan of what to do if... but it is about how we as a community respond. 

Over the next few months we will be organising workshops and discussions around this topic and looking at how we can connect people and map the resources our community has. If you would like to be part of this please do contact Kate on halswell.comm@gmail.com. 

DID YOU KNOW:

• Schools are no longer Civil Defence posts in an emergency? 

• The safest place in an emergency is often Home.

• The Council Website is the best source of information in an emergency.

• Getting to know your neighbours is a great way to start your neighbourhood response. When you know your neighbours you're more likely to have more support in an emergency., like a storm or an earthquake.

• Neighbours’ Day Aotearoa is held every March, to encourage neighbours to get to know each other. 

• You can join or form a Neighbourhood Support Group so you and your neighbours can share skills and resources to help you get through in an emergency.

• You can find information about creating an emergency plan for your household here: https://getready.govt.nz/prepared/household/

Neighbour's Day Aotearoa (neighboursday.org.nz)

The Neighbour's Day Aotearoa website has a lot of resources to help you organise your Neighbour's Day event.

Neighbourhood Support (neighbourhoodsupport.co.nz)

Join a Neighbourhood Support Group on the Neighbourhood Support website or call 0800 463 444.