Flood Alert Volunteers Stood Down...

After 48hrs on duty with the Environment Agency watching over the temporary flood barriers we are now stood down. The flood alert is still active although the river levels are dropping. The EA are removing the barriers this evening and we will continue to keep an eye on the river as it remains on alert.

This is our second alert this year and a good test of our response, equipment, and systems. Thankfully the river did not go over the banks in the centre of town although the Bridge and Holt Road at Staverton have been flooded with reports of vehicles stuck and drivers needing to be rescued. (When will people learn not to ignore the signs!)

Kind Regards


Paul Robertson

Senior CEV Coordinator

Flood Alert Update...

With the rain still falling rivers are set to rise although looking at the weather radar the worst of the heavy rain seems to be running up to the west of us in Devon and Cornwall. We are monitoring the online river gauge at Westwood to see how the river levels are reacting to this additional downpour. Keep upto date via our twitter feed @BoATCCEVs

River images from 9am this morning

 

 

Kind Regards

 

 

 

Paul Robertson

 

 

Senior CEV Coordinator

Flood Alert - Bradford on Avon...

Earlier this afternoon the Environment Agency has issued a flood alert for the River Avon at Bradford and we are currently monitoring levels with further heavy rain forecast for the next 24hrs. Whilst currently only just on the threshold of a flood alert the catchment can be sensitive to sudden deluges and whilst there is plenty of room in the river to cope with more rainfall the Flood alert is a chance for those who might be at risk to review their flood preparations and ensure their plans are in order.

For further updates please follow us on twitter @BoATCCEVs where we will keep you updated on the status of the river and warning levels.

Kind Regards


Paul Robertson

Senior CEV Coordinator

16th Nov - A Busy Training Night...

A really busy training night last night with guests from Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue and South west Ambulance Service. David Wilmot of SwasFT introduced us to the First Responder Scheme and how it may work in Bradford on Avon. The CEVs are very keen to support this initiative in our community and I'm pleased to say several of our volunteers showed an interest in signing up

Here is a promotional video by the ambulance service explaining more:

If you think you might be interested in joining a community first responder scheme in your area please do get in touch with your local Ambulance First Responder Coordinator.

(David Wilmot showing our volunteers the kind of kit community responders carry)

It was also good to welcome Neil Chamberlain the Community Volunteer Coordinator from Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue. He explained how the Fire service are actively seeking to engage volunteers in their community safety work and was particularly interested in getting to know who are the vulnerable people in our communities who might benefit from free home safety checks and smoke alarms.

As well as all this we also undertook our vehicle safety training (a copy of which is now in our training notes page as well as an updated vehicle safety manual). Please do take a look whether you are going to be driving the vehicle or not.

Many thanks to everyone for your on going support. This was our last training session of the year (before the onset of the festive season) so may I wish you all a prosperous and safe Christmas and new year (I know its a bit early!)

Kind Regards



Paul Robertson


Senior CEV Coordinator

 

2017 Training Diary...

Our 2017 training diary has now been posted on our training notes section

2017 Training Diary


Kind Regards


Paul Robertson

Senior Coordinator

The Vehicle has arrived in the nick of time...

This afternoon we have just received our vehicle back from Spectra the coach builders of Westbury just in time to help with crowd marshalling at the fireworks night tomorrow. Many thanks to Richard Hayes and his team for such a good job.

I had to check that the lights work! Hope to see you at the fireworks event tomorrow

Kind Regards


Paul Robertson

"The Mighty Moose!"...

With the roll out of our new vehicle fast approaching I was chatting to a fellow volunteer about the size of the lightbar on our new vehicle. Bit of a mistake on the part of yours truly in terms of measuring up (or the lack of) but having it mounted on our vehicle did rather remind us of the largest member of the deer family native to North American (Greetings to our US readers by the way. There have been a lot of you lately and you are most welcome to our site - I hope you are finding it of interest)

Do you think we should make it official? I've been assured we shall have our vehicle in time for November 5th (This Saturday) when we are crowd marshalling for our local Bonfire Night. A quaint British custom of celebrating the foiling of a plot to blow up our parliament several hundred years ago by burning an effigy of the ring leader (Guy fawkes) on a big fire, and eating seasonal fruit on a stick covered in rock hard toffee (Fun for all the family!).

 



In Bradford on Avon we don't burn a Guy anymore and its candy floss and burgers rather than toffee apples (Easier on the teeth!). Last year we looked after 4000 people so our 19 volunteers are hopefully going to be busy again!

If your in the area do come along as all money raised goes to our local schools for purchasing extra stuff and feel free to say hello and hopefully admire our vehicle!

Kind Regards



Paul Robertson


Senior Coordinator

We're looking to expand our role....

Building Community Resilience is all encompassing and we are hoping to take a big step up over the next few months by working with the South West Ambulance Service to set up a First responder Scheme in Bradford on Avon. With the equipment we have recently purchased and equipment that can be supplied by SWASFT we are now on a recruitment drive to find volunteers to be on call to help cover our town and outlying villages.

If you are interested and want to find out more why not come along to our next training session at the BoA Fire Station at 8pm on the 16/11/16 for an introductory chat about the scheme by David Wilmot the Community First Responder Coordinator for Wiltshire. (Please note there is no parking at the Fire Station)

Hope to see you there


Kind Regards



Paul Robertson


Senior Coordinator

Our vehicle is nearing completion....

Not long now until our vehicle will be completed. The latest shots from our coachbuilders Spectra of Westbury:

The light bar seems a bit wide (and it is) but we've stacked a lot of kit into it (VMS sign / alley lights / take down lights) once its mounted a little higher it shouldn't look too cumbersome. I've been assured by our coachbuilders that we won't bash our heads on it getting in and out either!

Kind Regards


Paul Robertson


Senior Coordinator

First Photos of Our Vehicle being liveried up...

Our vehicle is currently at Spectra Coach builders in Westbury being kitted out. The graphics are partially on and its already starting to look the part.

Can't wait until its completed!

 

Front and rear graphics are now on. Just the sides to do. Light bar and CCTV are on order

Kind Regards


Paul Robertson

CEV Coordinator

"Standard, Standard, Get your standard here!"...

Have only just realised our new vehicle livery looks strikingly similar to a certain well known London Evening Paper delivery vehicle scheme!

Our Approved Artwork                     Evening Standard 4x4

 

 

Oh well!

 



 

Crowd Marshalling Training

Last night was our crowd marshal training night and with fireworks night and xmas light switch on fast approaching it was a good time for a refresher course. The Crowd Marshalling notes can now be found on our training notes page (Training Notes Link) so please do take a look. Hopefully they will prove useful


Kind Regards



Paul Robertson


CEV Coordinator

Vehicle Safety Manual

With the imminent arrival of our new vehicle we have compiled a safety manual for our volunteers to ensure they are using the vehicle safely on the roads. We have uploaded this onto our training page

https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4113958126620761756#editor/target=page;pageID=6850571217532743935;onPublishedMenu=pages;onClosedMenu=pages;postNum=0;src=link

Kind Regards


Paul Robertson


Senior Coordinator

Rest Centres Training Night

Our first training night back from the summer holidays was on rest centres presented by Sarah Kelly from Wiltshire Councils Emergency Planning team. Many thanks Sarah for coming along and explaining how they are activated and what functions they undertake.

Sarah has kindly issued her powerpoint slides to us which are up in our training notes section so please do take a look.

Many thanks to all who came along including our colleagues from Melksham Town Council and Melksham Without. You are always very welcome

Sarah briefing us on Rest Centres

 

 

Our vehicle is now at the coachbuilders so it will not be long now until we have a fully kitted up group.

 

 

Kind Regards

 

 

 

Paul Robertson

 

 

Senior CEV Coordinator

CEV Group Starter Pack

If having read through the pages here you've thought that your community could do with a CEV group then why not set one up. We have now produced a starter pack for other communities to learn from our experience and start your own scheme. There is nothing to stop you, whether you community is vulnerable to flooding, snow, power failure, or a range of different scenarios this pack is aimed to point you in the right direction. Whilst it is primarily written with communities in Wiltshire UK there is nothing stopping other communities in Britain or internationally from building on the work we have been doing in Bradford on Avon, and hopefully we in turn can learn lessons from you

With Climate change rapidly quickening the impact and prevalence of civil emergency events across the globe here is a chance for grass-root communities to pro-actively prepare themselves from the bottom up linking in with government agencies and the voluntary sector from the top down. Similar schemes are in operation in other countries from CERT schemes in the US to SES schemes in Australia. If you want to do more to help you community speak to your local community and help to build community resilience where you live

Starter Pack Link

Kind Regards

Paul Robertson

Senior CEV Co-ordinator

Getting Ready For Winter...

Our grant from SSEPD Resilience Fund has allowed us to purchase 3 push along gritters for gritting the steep footpaths we find round Bradford on Avon. Many thanks to SSEPD for this very useful kit. If you are a community resilience group based in the UK check to see if your regional power supplier runs a resilience grant scheme. You have a chance to purchase some real performance enhancing kit

2 of our three new gritters outside our storage container

We have also just taken delivery of 13 Lifejackets for use in our flood warden role. This is very important safety equipment for our volunteers ensuring they can undertake their role safely

A newly arrived Lifejacket with our gritters

Our team is now better prepared than it has been to face whatever challenges the UK weather might throw at us


Kind Regards




Paul Robertson

 

An Excellent Civil War Society Weekend...

What a great weekend in Bradford on Avon this past weekend with the 'invasion' of the English Civil War Society. Our volunteers were out with many other voluntary groups and colleagues from professional agencies to ensure everyone of the thousands of visitors had a safe and enjoyable time at the various events held across the town.


Our new vehicle was much in evidence during the weekend helping to move volunteers and materials around from site to site. A huge thank you to Great Wall Bath dealership for helping to organise the vehicle in time.


A big thank you to our volunteers for giving up their weekends to help. This would never have happened without you. Our advert for volunteers in the back of the programme has already elicited some response which is great!

 Early morning briefing (CEVs in orange)

Skirmish on the bridge (Helping to man the road closure)

Our truck carrying the PA for the event

 

Front row seats for the main battle

Thanks again to all those who made it possible

Kind Regards

Paul Robertson

Senior CEV Coordinator

Our Vehicle has arrived

The majority of our SSEPD resilience Fund money has been spent on the purchase of a 4x4 Great Wall Steed. It arrived by our container this morning and has already been pressed into service helping move cones and barriers around in preparation for the Civil War Re-enactment Event this weekend where we will be crowd marshalling.


Here are a few shots:

Won't be long until it is liveried up and ready for use. We are currently arranging a training programme for its safe use

Kind Regards

Paul Robertson

Senior CEV Coordinator

DEFRA Flood Water training session

A huge thank you to Dave Dunford from Serve On for putting us through our paces on our DEFRA flood water awareness training. It was great for both experienced volunteers to refresh their skills as well as giving new members a chance to pick up these valuable life saving skills.

We were also please to welcome The British Transport Police from Bath Spa who came to observe what we were about. A really good turn out of 13 volunteers tonight with plenty of members of the public stopping and observing us. Really helps to raise our profile in the community

Volunteers readying their throwlines

Being shown some of the hidden dangers on the river

 

 

Its a busy week for the volunteers with Crowd marshalling this weekend for the civil war society event and our 4x4 vehicle being delivered on Friday. Great times ahead!

 

 

Kind Regards

 

 

 

Paul Robertson

Test driving a 4x4...

Following the successful application for the SSEPD Community Resilience Fund we went to Bath Honda yesterday to test drive a Great Wall Steed. If you haven't heard of the make well nor had I until a few months ago. They are very big in China evidently, as well as selling lots in Australia and South Africa although they are called something different. Simon was the test driver whilst I tested out the passenger seats for comfort and knee room. An enjoyable afternoon was had by all and the general consensus was that this type of vehicle would be eminently suitable for all the various needs that we require from it. Just need to find a model for the correct price, spec and colour and then hopefully we can get it on order and sent to the local coachbuilders to be fitted out and liveried.

The vehicle we test drove

 

 

If you like the thought of helping us drive and maintaining this vehicle why not volunteer with us?

Kind Regards


Paul Robertson

A Week of Good news....

Following on from our award win earlier this week we are pleased to announce that we have been awarded a Resilience Fund Grant from SSEPD Community Fund. This will allow us to purchase push along gritters, life jackets and an equipped vehicle to help us in our work.

Many thanks to SSEPD for their fantastic support

Kind Regards




Paul Robertson

It's Official, We're Award Winners!...

The Bradford on Avon Community Emergency Volunteers have been awarded a Public Health Award for 'Promoting Safety and Reducing Harm,' at last nights awards ceremony in County Hall Trowbridge.


It was very humbling to pick up this award having seen the depth and breadth of achievement by all the organisations nominated.


The CEVs had been nominated in two other categories - 'Innovation in Public Health' & 'Outstanding Achievement', however we were very pleased to come away with this official recognition of all our volunteers hard work and effort.


Well done everyone and I look forward to a successful future for our expanding team!

Receiving the award on behalf of the volunteers from the Chief Constable of Wiltshire

And here it is - Hopefully soon to be seen in the town hall!

Kind Regards

Paul Robertson

Senior CEV Coordinator



Snow Warden Training Notes Up

Unfortunately our flood water awareness training had to be cancelled at short notice. So instead our snow warden training was brought forward from July. It was good to have our friends from Melksham there as well.



Testing out the push along Gritter





Simon demonstrating the importance of good PPE drill!


To find out more go to our training notes page


Kind Regards






Paul Robertson




Senior CEV Coordinator

Flood Warden Refresher Training...

We had our first Flood Warden Refresher training last night with a good attendance of volunteers from Melksham and Bradford on Avon as well as our colleagues from Dorset and Wiltshire FRS Bradford on Avon crew. A big thank you to Geo Design Barriers for providing such a great demonstration (in the failing light!) of so many different types of flood barrier. It was really good to see. As well as talking about our own roles, we also were happy to welcome back our colleagues from The Environment Agency who gave us the background and wider picture as to how the warning system works and what triggers it.

The smallest barrier type being displayed

Erecting the Intermediate Sized barrier

Stage 1 - Erecting Supports

Stage 2 - Fixing Spacers

Stage 3 - Fixing Panels / Corner Pieces

Stage 4 - On with the waterproof liner and chain weight

Stage 6 - Completed barrier

A really useful practical demonstration on how these types of barriers go together by Geo Design Barriers (Many thanks Britt and Stephen).

Looking forward to our flood water awareness training starting next month!

Kind Regards

Paul Robertson



Major Incident Training Night...

A very interesting evening was had last night when SO Andy Green from Trowbridge Fire Station came to talk about Major Incidents and what the Fire Service and other Emergency Services get up to during a Major Incident. It was good to understand the background of how the 1st responder agencies co-ordinate themselves and also how we as community volunteers fit into that bigger picture. Training Notes are now uploaded onto our training page.

A big thank you to Andy for taking time out to talk to us and answer all our questions. It was also great to welcome Melksham Without Councillors, Officers, and volunteers and get a chance to share experiences and best practice. You are very welcome!

Volunteers listening intently to SO Andy Green

 

 

Kind Regards

 

 

 

Paul Robertson

 

Senior CEV Coordinator



New Volunteer Recruitment Video

We have now uploaded a new volunteer recruitment poster onto our 'Become a Volunteer' page.

Please check it out to find out more about what we do, and please consider joining the volunteers. We're always looking for new recruits

Kind Regards



Paul Robertson

Senior CEV Coordinator

Sand Bins have arrived!

We have now taken delivery of some very large sand bins to be located either side of the river. This provides us with materials for filling sandbags to help during flooding events.

Just need to organise some sand!

Kind Regards



Paul Robertson

CEV Coordinator

Flood Warning Stand Down

The Environment Agency has now stood down the flood warning for Bradford on Avon and our volunteers who have been out checking the barriers for the past 48hrs have now been stood down as well. A big thank you to the volunteers who have done a great job over the past 2 days working in close cooperation with our partner agencies. Many thanks for all your hard work

Kind Regards



Paul Robertson


Senior Coordinator

Bradford on Avon on Flood Alert

Bradford on Avon is back on flood alert after 30mm of rain over last 24hrs. For updates please keep an eye on our twitter feed. If you are out and about please do not enter flood water! If you live in a flood prone area sign up to the Environment Agencies flood warning service and take note of their advice for getting prepared


Kind Regards



Paul Robertson

A Good Start to our New Years Training

It was excellent to welcome our friends and colleagues from surrounding towns and parishes to our first training meeting yesterday evening. An interesting discussion was had by all and hopefully some good links made to help future cooperation between us. Thank you to Barney our H&S Officer for presenting this important part of our training. The training notes are now up on the appropriate part of our blog so please do download and look through.

Many thanks for your continued support


We look forward to seeing you soon


Kind Regards


Paul Robertson


Senior CEV Coordinator

Flood Alert lifted...

The flood alert that has been in place for two weeks has been lifted by the environment agency today as river levels return to normal

Kind regards


Paul Robertson

Flood Alert Update

Flood Alert is still in force for Bradford on Avon. The expected rain for today has missed Bradford so far although some has fallen in the upper Avon Catchment so will work its way down to BoA over the coming 6-12 hours. River levels are not as high as Friday although the river is still fast flowing as of lunchtime today,

River at lunchtime today

Please keep safe


Kind Regards


Paul Robertson

Senior CEV Coordinator

Flood alert continues...

The flood alert continues for the River Avon at Bradford on Avon. The river levels have gone down quite a lot over night however more rain over the catchment will cause the levels to rise again tonight. We continue to monitor the river although we have not called out the volunteers yet.

Kind regards


Paul Robertson
Senior CEV Coordinator

Images of the River today

The River is up! Some photos taken earlier today

2ft from the Bullpit

Steps Covered up

The river is running quickly

The river level marker

Water close to covering the path under the railway bridge

Barton Farm Pack Horse Bridge nearly covered

Helping put up the barriers at St Margarets Hall

 

Whilst the river is great to see please take care near the river and never enter flood water