Launching the VCFSE Emergency Planning Network

Waltham Forest CVS launches the borough's first Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise (VCFSE) Emergency Planning Network. A founding-day event for the organisations who'll show up when it matters.

When tower blocks burn, when floods come, when high streets are smashed up, when a pandemic shuts the world down — it is rarely a uniformed officer who knocks on the first door. It is a faith leader unlocking the hall. A social enterprise turning their kitchen into a soup run. A community group with WhatsApp lists full of people they can reach in twenty minutes flat.

Waltham Forest's Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise (VCFSE) sector is one of the most powerful resilience assets this borough has — and until now, we have never had a coordinated network to make the most of it.

That changes on Wednesday 20 May 2026.

Waltham Forest CVS is launching the borough's first VCFSE Emergency Planning Network, and we want every voluntary organisation, charity, community group, faith institution, mutual aid network and social enterprise that wants a seat at the table to be there from day one.

You cannot build trust in the middle of a crisis. You build it now — around a table, with sandwiches and proper introductions.

This is not a one-off conference. This is the founding meeting of a network that will:

• Connect VCFSE organisations to each other and to statutory emergency responders

• Build a shared understanding of the risks facing our borough — and where our communities are most exposed

• Set up working groups on training, communications, and volunteer mobilisation

• Create the relationships that — when something goes wrong — will already be in place

• Direct briefings from London Resilience, LBWF Emergency Planning, and the others

• A first-hand case study from Ealing CVS on the VCFSE response to the Southall fire

• A practical tabletop exercise: rest centre response and recovery

• Stalls from local responders with templates, toolkits and sign-up sheets

• A standing invitation to join the working groups that will shape this Network's future

If your organisation could be called on in an emergency, you should be in the room. That includes:

• Voluntary organisations and registered charities

• Community groups and residents' associations

• Faith institutions — mosques, churches, gurdwaras, synagogues, mandirs, temples; all welcome and all needed

• Social enterprises and Community Interest Companies

• Mutual aid networks and grassroots organisers

• Community anchor organisations of every size and shape

You do not need prior emergency planning experience. You need to care about your community and be willing to turn up when it counts.

Important: how we'll use your information

By booking a place at this event, you are agreeing that the details you provide on Eventbrite — your name, organisation, role and contact information — will be shared with the London Borough of Waltham Forest's Resilience Forum.

This is the whole point. The Resilience Forum is the multi-agency partnership that coordinates emergency planning across statutory and community partners. It cannot work effectively with our sector if it does not know who we are. By the end of this event, you will be a named, recognised VCFSE contact within the borough's emergency planning architecture. That recognition is the value of attending.

If you do not want your details shared with the Resilience Forum in this way, please do not book — but please do contact us directly, because we'd still like to hear from you and find another way to keep you connected [email protected]

Info: • 09.30 — Registration, refreshments, networking
• 10.00 — Welcome and opening remarks
• 10.15 — What is an emergency? (LBWF Emergency Planning)
• 10.35 — WFCVS and the VCFSE role in local emergency planning
• 10.55 — Interactive session: understanding local risks
• 11.30 — The community role in major incidents (London Resilience)
• 11.45 — Case study: the Southall fire (Ealing CVS)
• 12.20 — National Emergencies Trust: supporting communities during an incident
• 12.45 — Lunch with stalls from local responders
• 13.30 — Communications and media in emergencies
• 14.00 — Tabletop exercise: rest centre response and recovery
• 14.50 — Closing reflections, working group sign-ups, next steps
• 15.00 — Close

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Leyton Sports Ground, 485 High Road, London, United Kingdom

Concerts, fests, parties, meetups - all the happenings, one place.

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