Resilence grant funding on offer for West Yorkshire communities

PRESS RELEASE ISSUED ON BEHALF OF WEST YORKSHIRE PREPARED

For the second year running, West Yorkshire Prepared, the region’s Local Resilience Forum, will be offering funds to communities to enable them to better prepare for, respond to and recover from emergencies and major incidents.

The Community Grant Initiative, which was launched last year, aims to help communities across West Yorkshire increase their resilience and preparedness, ensuring they are ready should a major incident occur. In the first year of the initiative over 20 organisations received funding ranging from £130 to £5000.

Successful projects included bids for search and rescue equipment for Mountain Rescue teams, first aid training for community groups, and funding to develop natural flood defences. A large number of requests for defibrillator units were also received and, working with Yorkshire Ambulance Service and Wel Medical, West Yorkshire Prepared supplied 13 units for communities across West Yorkshire, as well as providing funds for a solar-powered defibrillator for Wakefield Scouts.

The Community Grant Initiative will once again aim to provide at least £50,000 of funding to communities, providing support where it’s needed most.

Catherine Hankinson, co-Chair of West Yorkshire Prepared and Assistant Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police, said: “Our aim, through this initiative, is to deliver funds to grassroots projects and organisations that can make a real difference on the ground. Whether for flood prevention and protection, essential communication devices or emergency response equipment, we want to enable more to be done at a local level by providing small, one-off grants.”

Dave Walton, co-Chair of West Yorkshire Prepared and Deputy Chief Fire Officer for West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: “The funding we provided last year has made a real difference to those community groups who applied, increasing flood resilience in districts prone to flooding, ensuring communities are better prepared for medical emergencies and improving accessibility in community centres. We hope, once again, to encourage a wide range of organisations to apply, from right across West Yorkshire.”

Any community or voluntary group can apply, with applications particularly welcomed from groups working in more deprived communities or areas where there are clear and present risks.

For full details on the entry criteria, or to download an application form, visit www.westyorkshireprepared.org.uk/community-grant. The closing date for applications is December 31 2022.

To keep up to date with West Yorkshire Prepared, please visit www.westyorkshireprepared.org.uk or follow us on Facebook (@WYPrepared) or Twitter (@WYRForum).

ENDS

For more information, contact:

Liz Armitage, Communications & PR Officer for West Yorkshire Prepared, on 07552 283504 or email liz.armitage@westyorksfire.gov.uk

Notes to editors:

 West Yorkshire Prepared – the region’s Local Resilience Forum (LRF):

1. West Yorkshire Prepared is a multi-agency partnership, working to identify, plan and prepare for major civil emergencies, to ensure the region is better prepared to cope with potential risks and able to recover following a major incident.
2. The LRF assesses the types of hazards that might affect the region, puts plans in place to address different types of emergencies, delivers training and exercises to test the plans, ensures staff in all organisations are kept up to date and provides advice, information and assistance to the public, business community and voluntary organisations.
3. The organisations in West Yorkshire Prepared work collaboratively to ensure there is co-ordination, co-operation and efficiency within the partnership, working together for the benefit of the communities they serve.
4. West Yorkshire Prepared is co-chaired by Deputy Chief Fire Officer Dave Walton of West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, Chief Executive of Bradford Council, Kersten England CBE, and Assistant Chief Constable Catherine Hankinson of West Yorkshire Police.