Ready Together“It was brilliant. I really felt the pressure unfolding but it was great to see the information gathering that goes on to make an informed decision.
What is great is that, being part of the Patron’s response to an emergency, we can feed in and support through one recognised and trusted channel - so in a lot of ways that makes life easier for us.
Following the exercise, we are going to look at what our internal response would be to such an event to make sure that we look at it from both a community and business perspective”.
If the worst happens - reflections on our disaster exercise
News and blogsSharing reflections from our partners and corporate Patrons following a National Emergencies Trust disaster exercise.
Within as little as four hours of a national emergency happening, the National Emergencies Trust will launch a nationwide fundraising appeal to ensure those affected receive financial support as soon as they need it.
In order to ensure we can work at the speed and efficiency needed, we regularly carry out disaster exercises with the help of our partners - replicating as closely and realistically as possible an emergency scenario where we need to swiftly decide whether to launch an appeal.
This puts our team through their paces, tests our processes, and gives us the opportunity to identify and address potential gaps in our response plans, ensuring we are always ready to face any future challenge.
The exercises also allow us to ensure that funds are raised and distributed in the most equitable way. Whatever the incident, it’s crucial that we consider these sensitivities through an EDI lens (e.g. geographical, by community or cause and other protected characteristics) and always with survivors at the heart of the decision-making process.
At our most recent exercise, we invited some partners and Patrons of the National Emergencies Trust to observe the session and provide feedback. We aimed to give them an insight into our way of working, and subsequently encourage them to consider their own roles in disaster response in the future.
We would like to thank our friends from REACT Disaster Response, British Red Cross, Community Foundation Wales, Clarion Housing Group, Welcome Break and The Curve Group for taking part in our exercise, and we’re pleased to share these snippets of feedback received:
Julia Feazey, Charity and Community Manager, Welcome Break
Shelley Hathaway-Batt, Head of Strategic Partnerships & Projects, Clarion Futures (part of Clarion Housing Group)
“I found the session incredibly informative and thought provoking. Whilst it’s a critical area of all our roles, not many organisations have to run with such a total focus on how to react and what protocols are in place for an emergency situation.
I was so impressed with the clarity of roles and responsibilities for all stakeholders and the incredible leadership shown – even though it was a training scenario it felt very real.
When a crisis hits, it is a chaotic and scary time. The level of rigor and preparation that National Emergencies Trust put in will undoubtedly give confidence to individuals who are required to make difficult decisions during very difficult times.
We were able to take away some great learnings that will be able to enhance the work we are already doing in this area”.
Catherine Thomas, Group Executive Director of Corporate Affairs, Clarion Housing Group
“The exercise showed excellent, well-rehearsed leadership from the get-go. Very clear instructions, processes and division of responsibilities.
I was impressed at the process of the Trust’s team having time to mobilise, gather data and input – and then for the trustees to be brought in and updated at a later stage – albeit within short periods of time. The call-out process to other agencies and organisations who could help/input/distribute funds was impressive and swift.
The localisation of impact and potential partners and support was also impressive. There was a recognition of language and culture (Irish/Welsh) and how important this is in a crisis in regions beyond national/London.
The call-out for support to understand demographics, culture and vulnerabilities was relevant to us and our thinking. It really made me think about our response to a crisis and also to my leadership approach.
Overall, it gave me a lot to think about and has stayed with me”.
Nick Wills, Trustee at REACT Disaster Response
"With a few of my colleagues, over the last few years, we've been helping to run exercises for the National Emergencies Trust in order to test their ability to launch in a timely manner.
Should there be an emergency in UK, we run this by giving them a build-up of fact on a scenario, over a few hours, which allows them to use timely and evidence-based decision making against their launch criteria to build up a picture and make a decision to launch.
This allows us to work with their trustees, their partners, and those of us within REACT that helped to build up a common picture of how each other does business, and therefore, at the end, hopefully get a better result should, God forbid, it actually ever happen. This has been great for all of us, and especially as responders.
We really enjoy this opportunity to test the National Emergencies Trust”.
WATCH: Nick Wills on the National Emergencies Trust exercise (opens in a new tab)
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