Welcome
Disaster Action is a charity, founded in 1991 by survivors and bereaved people from UK and overseas disasters. Living all round the UK, our members have personal experience of over 25 disasters, including rail, air and maritime as well as natural disasters and recent terrorist attacks overseas. We came together to help create a health and safety culture in which disasters are less likely to occur, to offer guidance and support to others who find themselves similarly affected by major tragedy, and to raise awareness of the needs of survivors and bereaved.
NewsNational Framework for Community ResilienceThe Cabinet Office recently launched this new national community resilience framework,
supported by a set of documents to assist communities in preparing for
emergencies, which will be published on the Cabinet Office website.
Disaster Action has been part of the ongoing consutlation process that
led to the creation of these documents, which we hope will strengthen
and enhance local emergency planning throughout the country.
Disaster Funds: Lessons & Guidance on the Management & Distribution of Disaster Funds
Controversy surrounds many disaster funds, even decades after they were launched. Little guidance is available to
those who take on the responsibility of managing and distributing funds in accordance with the wishes of the donors.
Disaster Funds: Lessons & Guidance on the Management & Distribution of Disaster Funds, published by Disaster Action with
support from the DCMS and the British Red Cross, fills that gap. It is an essential resource for emergency planners, fund
trustees, administrators and managers.
The specific lessons that emerged from our extensive research can be found in a short leaflet, Guidance on the Management
and Distribution of Disaster Funds, in Guidance for Responders.
Have you Been Affected by a Disaster?If you have been affected by a tragedy, you may find our leaflet series When Disaster Strikes
useful - see the links on right of this page. You can download and print thses leaflets for free. We offer
support and guidance to survivors, their families and to those bereaved
in traumatic circumstances. Whether your experience is recent or from some time ago, you are welcome to get in touch. You can learn more about who we are from our Organisation pages.
Are you an Emergency Planner or Responder?Please see the Guidance for Responders section of the website, where you will find leaflets and information relevant to your work. To learn more about Disaster Action and how we can help, please get in touch with Pamela Dix through our Contact page.
Spring/summer 2010 Newsletter
The past three years have seen the 20th anniversaries of most of the disasters that led to the foundation of Disaster Action. Our spring 2010 newsletter reflects on the experiences of those whose lives were changed by those terrible events, and what the passage of the years has meant for them. It also highlights the continuing focus of our work: giving a voice to those affected, whether by natural disaster, transport crashes or terrorist attack. This work is as relevant at the end of the first decade of the 21st century as it was in the past. The newsletter shows the difference that Disaster Action can make not only to survivors and bereaved, but in guiding and supporting emergency planners and responders.
:: Disaster Action Spring 2010 newsletter [PDF]
About Disaster Action
Disaster Action is concerned with the general principles and issues that may be relevant to any disaster, whatever its origin.
We use our experience to offer support and information for the bereaved and survivors from the disasters that continue to occur. This work has produced a series of leaflets entitled When Disaster Strikes. For the small number of survivors and bereaved who go on to develop conditions such as post traumatic stress disorder as a result of their experience, further help is available.
Disaster Action seeks to raise awareness of the needs of those directly affected by disaster. We act as lay advisers to central and local government and the statutory and voluntary services on emergency guidance and policy. Disaster Action is independent from the organisations to which it offers guidance and advice. Guidance leaflets for responders to disasters, and links to information to support their work, can be found in our guidance for responders page.
Much of our members' work is done on a voluntary, unpaid basis. The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust was a long-term supporter of our corporate responsibility project. The Trust also provided core funding for the period 2003-08. The Esmee Fairbairn Foundation responded positively to our application for core funding from 2009 and we are grateful for their support. Disaster Action also receives occasional gratuities, as well as self-funding through fees for members' presentations at seminars and conferences, and from some consultation. We cherish our independence.
As part of our aim to influence and improve health and safety culture and corporate governance, we are involved in projects, discussions and consultation in relation to corporate responsibility. This work is conducted through our corporate responsibility project.
We also offer presentation services with members contributing to emergency management courses, seminars and conferences where the focus is on the human aspects of disaster. Further details about our organisation and its aims and where our members are drawn from are given in the organisation section.
Finally, our publications section provides details about Disaster Action's book, The Case for Corporate Responsibility. In it we argued the case for reform of the laws governing involuntary manslaughter (which finally saw a new Act of Parliament in 2007), setting out a number of specific proposals. This section also provides information on our report based on a survey into the reporting of health and safety by the FTSE 100 companies in their annual reports. |
