A NEW network of volunteers has been launched in York and North Yorkshire, ready for any emergency - from floods and fires to blizzards and power cuts.
Ready for Anything has been set up by the North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum in a bid to ensure help is at hand in times of emergency.
Its volunteers will provide practical support, helping frontline response staff during an incident.
People will not need to make a regular commitment, but volunteers will be notified when there is a crisis and, if they are able to help, they can confirm this by text message.
More than 30 people attended the launch event, held at the York Centre for Voluntary Service off Priory Street, and attended by emergency service representatives and newly-recruited volunteers.
Also there were people who were affected by the 2015 floods, in which hundreds of homes and businesses in York alone were inundated after the River Ouse and River Foss burst their banks in the wake of prolonged rain.
Tom Knox, head of resilience and emergencies at North Yorkshire County Council, said a number of recent incidents had highlighted the need for additional support for emergency responders.
“We want to harness the public desire to help our neighbours and communities,” he said.
“Ready for Anything is a huge opportunity for volunteers across the whole of North Yorkshire to engage with and support the collective response to any emergency.
“We’d love to hear from people and businesses who are interested in joining us.”
North Yorkshire Deputy Chief Constable, Phil Cain, said that during the 2015 floods, the force was faced with a number of challenges which had a considerable impact on communities.
“We did not have a clear process for embracing the many offers of help we received from volunteers,” he said.
“Collectively we have learned lessons from our experiences in 2015 and Ready for Anything now allows us to embed volunteers in our core response to any significant incident in North Yorkshire.”
Anyone interested in joining the Ready for Anything team of volunteers can find out more and register their interest online at www.emergencynorthyorks.gov.uk/readyforanything.
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