Volunteering in the Covid response 

March 2021: The CRJ's Key Network Partner, the Emergency Planning Society (EPS) has announced that the launch of its spring programme of educational events will begin with Covid Volunteers; Top up or Top Down – A Partnership on March 17, 2021 at 10:00hrs.

 
Delegates are invited to join the EPS for the latest in its series of webinars for a fascinating exploration of volunteering in the Covid-19 response. The webinar will begin with a presentation from Kirsty O’Callaghan, Head of Strengthening Communities at the UK’s Essex County Council.
 
Kirsty will be talking about the Essex Coronavirus Action initiative which is a new model of outreach for vulnerable people and wider audiences affected by the pandemic. The Essex Corona Virus Facebook page disseminates information that is specific to the county about Public Health guidance, pandemic related public services and volunteering opportunities. It also has a closed Facebook page for citizens who want to ask questions and seek help and 20,000 of its 37,000 members joined within 72 hours of its creation.
 
The webinar’s second speaker will be Professor Lucy Easthope LLB MSc PhD FEPS FRAI with her presentation The Wrong Type of Cheese: Responding to a disaster very close to home. Lucy will be talking about taking the theory of localised community resilience to her own village doing the spring and summer of 2020 and the learning that will shape her practice in the future.
 
She is co-founder of the After Disaster Network at the University of Durham and was awarded a fellowship by the EPS for her work in this area.
 
Lucy’s first book The Recovery Myth, is a detailed ethnography of community action after disaster and her next book about life in disaster will be published early next year.
 
The presentations will be followed by a question and answer session and open debate.
 
The webinar is free for EPS members to attend and there is a charge of £30 for non-members to attend. Places can be booked here 

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