Interesting Fact

RE:ACT was initially formed in UK in 2015 under a previous name and transitioned to its current title and set up in 2020.  It was heavily involved nationwide during the covid pandemic and, for example, set up and ran vaccination centres, testing sites and emergency mortuaries.   RE:ACT now has a UK-wide network of  around 2000 volunteers, divided across 9 regions. The majority (70%) of these volunteers are military or emergency services veterans, with experience of working in stressful and challenging environments. 

Responsibilities

RE:ACT Disaster Response is a first emergency response charity able to provide vital early intervention support to affected UK communities, councils and other resilience actors involved in responding to an emergency event. 

Key Roles in Response

• Rapid response – providing small, well trained and reliable volunteer teams that can coherently respond within hours.
• Incident Management – supplementing local Incident Management teams to help to lead, coordinate and facilitate elements of the local voluntary and community response.
• Shared Situational Awareness – capturing information effectively and sharing it with relevant authorities, people and partner organisations.
• Impact/Needs Assessment & Disaster Mapping – ascertaining the impact to property, infrastructure, the needs of residents and the community.
• Logistics – dynamic planning, management and delivery of aid and resources, especially to the hard to reach ‘last mile’ locations.
• Spontaneous Volunteer Management – assisting local authorities and communities in coordinating and organising local /community volunteers.
• Strategic Planning – helping communities and local authorities prepare and plan for disasters to reduce the latter’s impact.