Community Emergency Shelter Scheme

Emergencies are rare, with only a handful of incidents occurring in North Somerset each year, but we must be prepared if they do happen.

North Somerset Council has plans in place to provide temporary shelter for those displaced by an emergency incident, utilising community buildings such as leisure centres and village halls, but we are always looking for more local venues, which are familiar to residents to increase community resilience.

Often, in an emergency, people do not know where to go and the emergency services may be unaware of which buildings are suitable for use as an emergency shelter.

The Community Emergency Shelter scheme ensures residents have a safe place to go if evacuated in an emergency until alternative arrangements can be made.

What venues can become a Community Emergency Shelter?

Any community venue such as a local village hall, community centre, sports venue, religious establishment, or any other building that is warm and dry with the following basic requirements as a minimum: electricity and lighting, seating area, kitchen facilities and toilets.

How can venues become a Community Emergency Shelter?

Venues across North Somerset are invited to join the scheme. If you manage a venue and are interested in joining the scheme, please use our online form.

Community Emergency Shelter Scheme - Venue Form

Personal contact details, such as key holder information and 24/7 emergency contact number(s), will only be held by the council’s emergency response team and will not be displayed publicly on the council’s website or elsewhere.

Venues are given a promotional sticker and posters to display in prominent positions, to indicate they are part of the scheme.

What happens in an emergency?

Members of the public should not self-deploy to a venue as it may not be open, instead they should await instructions from the emergency services and /or the council as appropriate who will decide on a suitable and available building to open as an emergency shelter.

The council will send staff and volunteers to manage evacuee needs at the Community Emergency Shelter as soon as possible.

Community Emergency Shelters would be in operation until evacuees could safely return to their homes/ place of work/ or until alternative accommodation is found. Ideally, Community Emergency Shelter accommodation should not be required beyond 24-48 hours and often much less.

With your support, it is our hope that we will have a network of community emergency shelters across the district providing true community resilience. Thank you to all the venues that have so far kindly agreed to open their doors in the event of an emergency.