Finalising our flood plan....

This evening we have finalised our flood plan with Renate from Wiltshire Council and Trudy from the Environment Agency. This formally sets out our triggers and roles and responsibilities. Its been a marathon effort putting it all together and major thanks go our partners and Tony one of our volunteers, who has been working on this document for over 12 months.

Renate wants to test us with a table top exercise in the autumn... ...more details to follow

Kind Regards



Paul Robertson

Senior CEV Coordinator

We've secured our Gritbins

After discussions with Wiltshire Councils Highways team we've secured our Grit bins and locations. Thank you so much to Simon Rowe, Chris Clark and the team at Wiltshire Council for their support and help


Kind Regards


Paul Robertson

Senior CEV Coordinator

Trying out our PPE...

Wendy was the brave volunteer last night trying out our winter weather gear on a warm July evening!

Thanks Wendy - and don't worry we have smaller sizes!

Snow Warden Training Night

A big thank you to everyone who came to our Snow Warden Training session yesterday evening. Special thanks to Chris Clark from Wiltshire Councils Highways Team for providing his expert assistance. For those unable to make it our training notes are in the usual place on the blog!

Our training sessions are now having a break through August for our summer holidays, but we'll be back again for training in September.

Still plenty going on in the background though!

Kind Regards (and have a great summer)



Paul Robertson

Senior CEV Coordinator

St Margarets Hall Flood Barrier Training...

Yesterday evening a band of volunteers met at our town hall in Bradford on Avon with the hall management team to practice putting up the flood barriers. They have a metal slotted barrier system which need cleaning and the rubber joints lubricating before we erect them. It was very useful to find out how they work on a warm July evening rather than a cold wet winters night with the river rising!

Barriers are prepared for installation

 

Simon clamping down the barriers

 

A finished barrier ready to face the elements

 

Jennie and Rachel helping to tidy the barriers away

 

 

 

Our First Crowd Marshalling Event....

A damp afternoon by the river was our first outing as Crowd Marshalls to look after the picnickers at the BoA Fringe Festival in the gardens of Kingston House. Well done to Barney, Simon, Mike and John for agreeing to turn up and get wet for the cause, as well as trying out our new kit! Its great to see it being put to use at last. It is also great to be able to make a visible presence in the community and making a positive contribution to events in town.

Mike and John man the gate with a welcoming smile!

 

Barney and Simon keeping an eye on the river (Note throwline at the ready)

The hardy crowds defying the weather to listen to the choirs in the lovely gardens

There are plenty more events scheduled in for the rest of the year but this was a good one to get under our belt...

Kind Regards


Paul Robertson

Senior Coordinator

 

 

7/7 - A personal perspective...

As the UK remembers the events in London 10 years ago I thought I might write a quick personal account. I was working in my office in London on the 7th July just on the edge of the total vehicle exclusion zone. With all the traffic stopped there was just a slow dignified procession of commuters walking out of the city to the waiting buses at the end of our street. I have never known the streets of London so quiet on that day with just the occasional police car breaking the silence. I was an Emergency Services Volunteer for the Salvation Army at the time and spent the next couple of  weekends manning a mobile canteen at Russell Square for the Emergency Services. My admiration for the Police Fire and Ambulance crews and at times the gruesome duties they had to perform over the coming hours, days, and weeks remains undimmed. My most vivid memory and perhaps what brought home to me the individual cost of that day was when the police clearance teams began bringing up personal effects from the underground station such as briefcases, umbrellas and handbags, abandoned by their owners in the panic.

The actions of many individuals and organisations at that time and the memories of the victims have always inspired me to work towards building a more resilient community where ever I have lived and whilst Bradford on Avon is far from London and targets for international terrorism the efforts of all who seek to protect our hard won freedoms inspire me to do my own small share.

Best wishes to you all

Kind Regards


Paul Robertson


Senior CEV Coordinator

The Emergency Services Show | emergencyservicesshow.com

A fun day out for all the family!



The Emergency Services Show | emergencyservicesshow.com

CEV Coordinator Training

A small band of us met at St Margarets Hall yesterday to undertake our CEV Coordinator training. CEV Coordinators are there to manage the volunteers on duty, monitor safety, liaise with other agencies and fill in the paperwork! A very necessary and important job! A big thank you to the six volunteers who have agreed to be trained up for this role. It means our team is much more robust now than it was.

We have now put up the training notes for CEV Coordinators in our training notes to show you are systems.