The speaker at our meeting of 26th August was Gillian Duncan, who spoke about ENCEPT - the East Neuk Community Emergency Planning Team. This is a relatively new initiative that recognises the remoteness of East Neuk communities and seeks to coordinate responses during an emergency.

The intention is to develop a single telephone contact (0800 999 6543) for communities to use, that will link to the ENCEPT team to mobilise whatever range of support is needed for a wide range of emergencies. Gillian was quick to add that this number should not be used for life threatening emergencies and does not replace the statutory 999 service.

An important concept is the idea of local community resilience.

Gillian mentioned situations such as ‘the Beast from the East’ flooding, snow blizzards, power cuts, flu pandemics and coastal and sea emergencies.

Close partnership contacts are being established with Fife Council via their emergency resilience officer and with the existing emergency services. A register of volunteers is being created and refuge centres established. We heard of plans for very practical measures such as stockpiles of sandbags, tools, first aid kits, hard hats and blankets in each village.

Gillian, who is a volunteer with ‘First Responders’ is currently working to publicise the initiative and to establish a website, facebook and email presence (encept@hotmail.com)

Gillian’s talk created much interest and following questions John O’Neill proposed an appreciative vote of thanks.