Urban Exe Resilience Network
Draft Stakeholder Brief
Benji Goehl 23 April 2026, v1
This is a draft proposal for discussion with stakeholders. It is informed by the two reference documents listed at the end.
What it is
Urban Exe Resilience Network is a practical community resilience network that links a small central coordinating structure with locally operated Emergency Hubs in the wards of St Thomas, Alphington and St Davids, Exeter.
It is intended to support communities in preparing for, responding to, and recovering from a range of local emergencies, including river flooding, surface water flooding, periods of extreme heat or cold, disruption to gas or electricity supplies, contamination of drinking water, epidemics, and transport-related incidents.
Why this model
The Network is designed to be simpler and more sustainable than one large volunteer organisation. It combines central coordination with local delivery, so that local groups can operate in their own venues and neighbourhoods while drawing on shared training, information and equipment.
Core purpose
Urban Exe Resilience Network will:
support affiliated groups and their local resilience activity
collect, verify and disseminate information centrally in an emergency
provide operational support to the community where safe and appropriate
provide and maintain Emergency Hub kits
promote resilience awareness, skills and preparedness across the local community
Structure
The Network will consist of:
Coordinating Team
Leads coordination, partnerships, training, exercises, readiness, documentation, kit management, and the annual review of the Community Emergency Plan.
Comms Team
Collects, verifies and shares information, manages situation updates and communications channels, and includes a Sensitive Information Officer for the controlled handling of information e.g. vulnerable residents.
Welfare Team
Supports the central Comms Team and Operational Support Team through refreshments, volunteer welfare, and basic emotional support.
Operational Support Team
Provides trained, risk-assessed practical support on the ground where appropriate, within clear safety limits and without duplicating the role of the emergency services.
Affiliated Groups
Churches, social clubs, local voluntary organisations, charities, social enterprises and businesses that affiliate informally with the Network and may operate an Emergency Hub in their own venue or locality using Network guidance and kit.
Individual Members
People recruited from the neighbourhood or wider area who bring skills into the Network and may belong to one or more teams.
Emergency Hubs
Emergency Hubs will be operated locally by affiliated groups, not by the central Network itself. The Network’s role is to enable them by providing:
guidance
training
communications links
Emergency Hub kits
coordination support during incidents
This creates a distributed model in which local groups provide local presence, while the Network provides shared structure and support.
Key features
The Network will be:
scalable operationally, so it can support anything from a local disruption to a wider incident
scalable geographically, so it can expand over time into nearby areas, including places such as Exwick where local flood risk may justify inclusion
practical, focused on real-world readiness rather than documentation alone
inclusive, able to work with a wide range of local groups and residents
light-touch in affiliation, making it easy for groups to participate
community-facing, promoting resilience awareness throughout the year
Readiness model
The Network will focus on regular activity, not just written plans.
Its main focal points will be:
an annual scenario-based exercise involving affiliated groups and, where possible, Category 1 responders
monthly training combining desktop exercises and practical skills development
an annual review of the Emergency Plan, led by the Coordinating Team
Training topics may include radio communications, dynamic risk assessment, map reading, manual handling, safeguarding, first aid and information governance.
Boundaries
Urban Exe Resilience Network is not an emergency service and does not replace statutory responders. Its role is to improve community readiness, strengthen local coordination, support affiliated Emergency Hubs, provide reliable information, and enable safe volunteer contribution.
This brief is about the design of the Network. The detailed Community Emergency Plan should follow from this structure.
Reference documents
London Community Resilience Toolkit
https://www.communitiesprepared.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/London-Community-Resilience-Toolkit-2025.pdf
Community Emergency Hubs – Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly Local Resilience Forum
https://www.dcisprepared.org.uk/media/rgyks3m1/community-emergency-hub-guide.pdf