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Westgate Community Emergency Group
Following the disruption to village services due to Storm Arwen last year, Durham County Council are working in conjunction with the Weardale villages to ensure that the impact of similar future events are kept to a minimum.
A general resilience response is being developed for the whole of Weardale (managed by Stanhope Parish Council and DCC) and each village will have its own specific plan of action within that response.
Westgate Community Emergency Group has been created with volunteers headed up by John Walker (Co-ordinator) and Mark Rogers (Deputy Co-ordinator),and it's aim is to work with Angelina Maddison (Durham County Council), to capture and record the details and actions which may need to be implemented if and when an emergency situation occurs.
As the plan is developed, the Co-ordinator will ensure that any necessary information is passed on to the village residents via newsletters, this website and Facebook pages so that everyone is aware of its progress.
If you have any questions regarding the WCEG or would like to get involved in any way by offering your services as a volunteer, then please contact us by e-mailing 'westgateceg@gmail.com'.
Update April 2023: The WCEG volunteers have been working incredibly hard to get our plan finished and we are nearly there! A lot has been happening in the background, including funding applications, infrastructure improvements within the Village Hall and emergency equipment for distribution.
Volunteers will be contacted very soon about a training event to be held on 17th May 2023, where we will put the plan to the test and make sure everyone involved knows what is expected of them.
Every property in the village will be visited in the coming weeks when the team of volunteers will be issuing our leaflet and introducing themselves to you.
Update May 2023: Last night (May 17th) we held the aforementioned training event at the Village Hall. The session was led by members of Durham County Council AAP and was incredibly informative and generated some good discussion points. The session was appreciated and enjoyed by all. Over the next few weeks, our volunteers will be visiting Westgate properties to explain our aims and objectives and to deliver a leaflet containing useful information so that we can all be better prepared in the future. Once our plan is finalised, a version will be available here.
Update June 2023: The WCEG volunteers have been out in force this month delivering the 'Helping Westgate To Be Prepared' leaflet. If you haven't had yours yet then please don't worry - it should be with you soon. There is a copy of the leaflet in the list of items to download. If you have any questions whatsoever or would like to get involved, then please contact 'westgateceg@gmail.com' or leave a message on this website on the 'Contact Us' page.
Update February 2024: Following a successful funding application in 2023, Northern Powergrid have provided us with the money to upgrade three village locations into warm and safe places should we ever have to endure another storm Arwen situation. The three locations are Westgate Village Hall, the Hare & Hounds public house and Westgate Manor. Each location has had generator infrastructure installed so that either location can be quickly and safely connected up to a generator. The Village Hall was also able to purchase a new water boiler to assist the warm spaces coffee mornings.
You will now see displayed in the Village Hall noticeboard a Westgate Community Emergency Group status. This status will be either GREEN - everything is normal, AMBER - the current situation is being monitored, be it severe weather, power disruption etc., and RED - the WCEG action plan has been activated in conjunction with Durham County Council. The action plan will soon be available on this page in the download section.
Following a recent training session, the village now has several more people who have been trained in the use of the two defibrillators.
Here are some links which you may find useful:
Financial Support Autumn 2022.pdf
Weardale Action Partnership -January-2023.pdf