Written by Joelma, Partnerships Coordiator at LBFN
These reflections bring together what I learned from the six sessions I attended at EP: Live and what it could mean for faith and community organisations. They reflect my observations, not an official account of the speakers’ conclusions.
EP: Live was an in person, all partner event hosted by the Voluntary and Community Sector Emergencies Partnership (VCSEP).
1. EP Youth Council: The Next Generation of Risk
This session prompted me to consider whose understanding of risk shapes our planning. Young people may recognise pressures and emerging challenges that established organisations overlook. They also bring different experiences: we should avoid treating them as one group with the same concerns or opportunities.
My strongest reflection is that listening must lead to influence. Young people will live with the long-term consequences of today’s decisions, so they need opportunities to help shape those decisions and see change because of their involvement.
For faith and community organisations, this raises a practical question: how can our relationships with faith communities, schools, and youth groups create an ongoing role for young people in preparedness? This should include suitable support, clear responsibilities and feedback on how their contributions are used.
2. Bridging Divides
My notes from this session connect exclusion with feeling unheard, misunderstood, isolated or targeted. This reinforced my understanding that belonging and trust are part of emergency preparedness. Relationships built through everyday community life can influence whether people feel confident seeking help, sharing concerns or responding to information during a crisis.
Having a seat at the table does not automatically mean having influence. We need to consider whether people can speak honestly, challenge assumptions and see a response to what they raise.
For faith and community organisations, our connections across faith and community groups provide opportunities to build these relationships before an emergency. My wider reflection is that people from other countries can also bring valuable experience and perspectives. We should recognise their contributions and understand the barriers that may prevent their participation.
3. Warning Fatigue? What Drives People to Act
This session challenged me to think beyond whether information has been circulated. Repeated warnings may lose impact if people don’t see their relevance, don’t trust the source, or aren’t sure what to do. We should also ask whether people have the means to follow the advice. Understanding a warning does not necessarily mean having the money, transport, language support or practical assistance needed to respond.
For faith and community organisations, this suggests reviewing communications from the recipient’s perspective: What does this mean for me? What should I do next? Where can I get help? Trusted community contacts can help us test whether messages are clear and achievable. Their feedback should shape how we prepare and share information.
4. Time to Trust? Harnessing Volunteers in Emergencies
The session’s focus on moving from managing volunteers to integrating them prompted me to reflect on how we recognise community capability. Volunteers bring relationships, local knowledge, languages, and practical experience, along with their time.
Meaningful integration requires preparation. Volunteers need clear roles, appropriate training, safeguarding arrangements, support and an understanding of how their contribution connects with others. Organisations also need to be honest about their capacity and limits.
For faith and community organisations, Community Resilience Training could provide a useful starting point for these conversations. We could help participating organisations identify what their volunteers can reliably offer, what support they need, and whom to contact during an emergency. Trust becomes practical when people understand their responsibilities and know that their knowledge is valued.
5. Inside Local Resilience: Learning from Practice
This session reinforced the importance of examining what happens in practice. My central question is: if we asked faith and voluntary organisations, “Where do you fit within the Emergencies Partnership?”, how many could confidently answer?
My concern is that organisations may already provide valuable support without understanding how their work connects to the wider framework. We should begin with whom they support, what they can offer and where they need assistance, then work out their role together.
For faith and community organisations, this could mean using partner discussions to identify capabilities, gaps and overlapping activities. We should distinguish unnecessary duplication from useful backup capacity, and ask what changed following previous exercises or emergencies. Learning needs to result in agreed actions, named responsibility and review dates.
6. 10 Years On: Voices of Resilience Leadership
The closing session prompted me to reflect on the leadership needed for an increasingly complex emergency environment. One disruption can trigger further problems, while some future challenges will fall outside our current expectations.
Leadership therefore needs foresight, curiosity and humility: the willingness to notice early signals, question familiar assumptions and listen to people whose experience differs from our own. Young people and people with experience of other countries can help broaden that understanding.
My overall impression was of a vibrant sector full of committed people who recognise others’ needs and act. To connect those strengths more effectively, we need a shared purpose expressed in everyday language. For faith and community organisations, a useful next step is to test whether partners can explain the partnership’s purpose, identify their contribution, and describe how they would connect with others during an emergency.
