National Emergency Preparedness with the National Emergencies Trust
The National Emergencies Trust launched in 2019 as a single, trusted place to donate in the event of a national emergency. Within four hours of a disaster, the Trust will mobilise an emergency fundraising appeal and start working with local funding partners, like community foundations, to distribute funds quickly and fairly, to those most in need.
The idea for the National Emergencies Trust came about in 2017, after a series of tragic events including the Manchester Arena Bombing, the Grenfell Tower fire, and terror attacks in London, led the Charity Commission for England and Wales to recommend a new approach to fundraising in the aftermath of national emergencies.
Whilst these events sparked huge outpourings of public generosity, which made a marked difference to the lives of survivors, the large number of individual fundraising pages set up made it difficult to identify and address cases of fraud. So, sector experts and emergency survivors collaborated on the National Emergencies Trust, an independent charity expertly harnessing the generosity of the nation.
At Northamptonshire Community Foundation, we’ve worked with the Trust before, distributing emergency funds during the pandemic, so we know how vital and impactful their work is when it comes to supporting communities through what is often the worst periods of their lives.
As a community foundation, we’re the first response when it comes to grant distribution, so it’s vital that our whole team know what their roles would be in the event of a national emergency. We wanted to be prepared, and now we are, thanks to the insightful workshop that Helen, Assistant Director – Operations at National Emergencies Trust, hosted for us. During the one-day session, staff and trustees learned more about why NET is such a valuable and impactful organisation, and ran through a scenario based on a previous local disaster, to embed our understanding of what to do and how to do it in the unwanted case of a future emergency.
Dean Jones, Head of Giving & Development at Northamptonshire Community Foundation, said the workshop was “truly engaging”: “we discussed Northamptonshire Community Foundation’s readiness for any future emergencies as the official grant-giving partner in the county. A proactive approach was taken, considering all the essential aspects to be addressed in the event of a significant community emergency, and how, as a grant-making organisation, we can respond effectively.”
Our team couldn’t speak more highly of the training we received. If your community foundation would like to know more, take a look at the National Emergencies Trust webpage.