An emergency can have a significant effect on your community.
The Cabinet Office have produced a guide for communities and a community emergency plan toolkit which will help you to identify and prepare for hazards and threats that may disrupt community life.
Ready Together
Ready Together is a free toolkit from the National Emergencies Trust. It gives communities practical ways to prepare for emergencies using the people, places, skills and resources they already have.
It is about what communities can do to prepare and help each other, alongside the work of councils, emergency services and other organisations.
Ready Together has eight modules:
- Working with your community - – How to work with local groups and organisations to prepare for emergencies as a community.
- Places and Spaces - How to find safe, accessible places where people in your community can meet and get help.
- People and Skills - How to find local people with the skills and knowledge to help your community prepare.
- Communications - How to share clear, trusted information with people in your community before and during emergencies.
- Events - How to plan events that bring people together and help your community prepare for emergencies.
- Money and finances - How to prepare for the financial effects of emergencies, find support and understand your insurance.
- Supplies - How to plan for the food, water and other essential supplies your community may need.
- Supporting people with additional needs - How to help people who may need extra support before, during and after an emergency.
Each module gives practical guidance to help your community prepare, respond and recover.
There are also downloadable resources to help your community plan.
Choose where to start | Ready Together Toolkit
If you would like an emergency planning officer to attend one of your council meetings to do a short presentation on emergency planning and the benefits of adopting a community response plan please contact us. We would particularly welcome discussing arrangements that could be put in place for dealing with flooding situations in known flood risk areas.
Once you have completed your plan, please send a copy to the emergency planning team, using the contact details below, so that in the event of an emergency the team could make contact with your town/village.
Last updated: 10 Nov 2026, 4:30 p.m.