It's nearly a year since the unprecedented snow storm in Arran and Kintyre had a catastrophic effect on the local electricity network, buckling steel transmission towers in Kintyre for the first time in decades, leaving the island without electricity. Since then, the electricity network has been rebuilt and our teams in the area have been working with the community and sharing their experiences to help them plan for emergency events of any kind.
SSEPD recently sponsored the Community Resilience Forum in Lamlash, which was attended by a wide range of agencies, public servant bodies and local community groups including the three emergency services, Scottish Government, Arran Resilience, RNLI, HM Coastguard and the Arran Reslience Umbrella. The event followed the Scottish Government template for resilience planning and was designed to give the local community an opportunity to share ideas on emergency planning with the group.
The main aim of the workshop was to identify resources and people within the community that can be called upon to help in an emergency, one example being the Island Volunteer Group who have a base ton Arran, along with volunteers and managers who are fully trained to support their communities. The meeting was very positive, with everyone keen to share their thoughts and views on various topics, including communication and getting back to basics with sharing information.
The workshop was led by resilience expert and retired Chief Superintendent John Harkin and Mo MacDougall SSEPD Community Liaison Manager for Scotland.
Mo said: “Since the severe weather last March, we have worked hard to build up a close working relationship with the community in Arran, listening and working with them to be better prepared for any future emergency situations . It's really fantastic to know that in every village there are key individuals who can make a real difference in emergency situations and provide invaluable information to us on who needs help most, for example letting us know who's just had a baby, who relies on a stairlift and who uses a ventilator.
She added: “Planning ahead was one of the main themes we wanted to discuss at the forum and the delegates who came along were prepared for any eventuality, with some even arriving a day early to ensure their safe arrival! Given a ferry was cancelled due to bad weather it showed that you can never be too prepared on an island!”
Dr David Hogg, the co-ordinator of the Arran Resilience Umbrella was full of praise for the meeting: 'I think the event shows the effectiveness of bringing people together across the community. There was a fantastic community spirit during this snow and we have to build on that."
This positivity was echoed by Scottish Government Head of Community Resilience Policy for Scottish Government, Ralph Thrope, who said: "I was very pleased to have the opportunity to be involved in this excellent event. Arran clearly has strong, resilient communities, which has helped them when faced with challenges in the past. It was great to see different groups thinking about effective ways they can work together to prepare for emergencies. Good progress was made on dealing with important issues like how to share information, and making sure that everyone who might be vulnerable in a crisis gets the help they need.”