Happy Christmas to everyone!

This is the time of year when we cherish having loved ones close and being warm and dry. It’s also the season of unpredictable weather and, all too often, heavy rainfall. Spare a thought for those communities and homes that face flooding year after year.

In a major emergency or disaster, widespread damage to utilities, buildings, trees, and roads can quickly cause disruption across the county. While our emergency services will focus on the most urgent incidents, your local community will often be the first and most immediate source of support.

That’s where Emergency Contact Hubs come in. These hubs are your community’s go to place for help and connection during an emergency. They’re shaped by what your community needs, but their core purpose is simple: to help people support each other and provide a vital link to emergency services and other responding agencies.

Many communities have already signed up to designate a building within their town or parish as an Emergency Contact Hub, there are now over 100 hubs across our local area.

Some communities meet regularly at their hub to develop emergency and flood plans, practice how they would set up the hub, and spread the word about its role. Others, particularly in urban areas, use a different approach, signposting, messaging, and raising awareness through local events like fetes or markets. The goal is the same: make sure everyone knows where to go in an emergency, whether they need help or can offer it.

Whatever model works for your community, take a look at Wiltshire and Swindon Prepared and join the growing network of Emergency Contact Hubs. This concept is now being adopted in other regions across the UK to strengthen local resilience and build whole-society preparedness.

Finally, a big thank you to Calne Emergency Contact Hub! They decorated a Christmas Tree with Emergency Contact Hub information on display during St Mary’s Church Christmas Lights switch-on. This creative initiative is just one of many ways the Calne Hub Working Group is raising awareness, encouraging people to sign up with skills like first aid, nursing, or even offering 4x4 vehicles to help when hubs need to open during an incident.