Tause hosts People's Emergency Briefing in Haslemere

In September, I supported a team of residents to host a People's Emergency Briefing in Haslemere.

The idea was simple. Instead of waiting to be told what to do in a crisis, what if a community sat down together beforehand and talked it through, in plain English, with no jargon and no panic?

Why Haslemere, and why now?

Over the past few years, we've all had a crash course in how fast normal life can be disrupted. Power cuts, flooding, supply chain wobbles, extreme weather. None of it is far-fetched any more.

Through Love Haslemere Hate Waste, I've seen what this town does when it's given a practical way to help each other. The Community Fridge has had more than 12,000 visits. The Repair Café has fixed over 1,200 items. People here don't need persuading to look after their neighbours. They need a place to start.

What we covered

📍 We hosted the screening, and then gave everyone some time to digest, discuss and explore in small groups

📍 We heard from a local farmer - Ed's Veg - about farming more sustainably. We heard about our local community energy scheme, and our local biodiversity group's work on swift recovery (yes, the bird!). And lastly we heard from another area, Elmbridge, that is also driving action, together.

📍 I spoke about Love Haslemere Hate Waste, and the potential in creating small changes that add up to something bigger.

I was delighted to meet people who wanted to join our Repair Cafe, who run our local People Planet Pint events, and to talk to our local MP, Greg Stafford about the solutions required to solve the crises we face.

The bit nobody expects

Resilience sounds like a technical subject. In the room, it turned into something more human. People swapped numbers. Neighbours realised they lived two doors apart and had never spoken. Someone offered a skill. Someone else admitted they'd never thought about any of this.

That's the point. Resilience isn't a plan on a shelf. It's a set of relationships that already exist when you need them.

It's good for business too

If you run a local shop, café or small firm, you're part of this. A town that can handle disruption is a town where businesses can keep trading, customers keep coming, and recovery is faster. Resilience protects revenue as well as people.

What happens next

The session was over subscribed, so there are plans afoot to host another very soon. And beyond that, there's appetite for a working group to explore how we can achieve more, collectively.

If you'd like to be part of it, drop us an email.

We can't predict every emergency. But we can decide, together, that Haslemere won't face one unprepared.

Tause