UKCR
ABOUT US
Mission
The UKCR Mission Statement
The UK Civil Reserve will rapidly respond to major and critical incidents nationwide and overseas, deploying multidisciplinary teams of professional Reservists who are able to assess, liaise, coordinate and respond in times of need.
Our Purpose:
1. To provide humanitarian action that saves lives, alleviates suffering, and maintains human dignity, following crises and natural disasters in the United Kingdom, through the leadership and coordination of voluntary sector resources.
2. To recruit and retain a standing body of reservists trained to an accredited standard and capable of deployment at high readiness throughout the United Kingdom.
3. To enhance disaster preparedness and effective response in the United Kingdom through the development of community resilience, in support of local and national disaster risk reduction strategies.
4. To collaborate with government agencies, first responders, and community groups in the United Kingdom to provide support following disruption of the normal functioning of communities.
We can help
Our Status
UKCR is in the process of registering with the Charity Commission to obtain ‘Registered Charity’ status. This will allow us to best achieve our humanitarian goals to protect the vulnerable and help communities respond and recover from emergency situations.
Additionally, being a charity will enable us to work with a wider range of partners to contribute to our mission. We shall then be able to fundraise and seek public donations. Our application number is: 5207150.
Aim
Our Aim
To create resilient communities by establishing a network of contracted, trained and enabled local reservists who can deploy to support their communities in times of crisis.
We will do this by:
- Providing training and upskilling of individuals creating several tiers of capable and trusted reservists.
- Providing leadership for reservists and the management of spontaneous volunteers at incidents.
- Working in partnership with local, national and international responders for a cohesive emergency response.
Respond
We shall respond to:
- Environmental disasters
- Public health emergencies
- Humanitarian emergencies
- Criminal or terrorist incidents
- Major national events (e.g. Olympics, Commonwealth Games)*
* where additional logistical command and control is required
Plan
UKCR will actively engage with partners and clients to plan our commitment to supporting and enhancing our resilience capacity, capability & preparedness across the ‘whole of society’.
Prepare
UKCR will contribute to the UK’s levels of preparedness for any crisis or emergency events and provide a partner to whom organisations and agencies can turn in times of need.
Respond
UKCR will provide a rapid mechanism for responding to requests for assistance.
Recover
Deploying our Reservists significantly relieves pressure on the Emergency Services and Military, allowing these services to concentrate on or return to operational tasks or tasks that only they can do as quickly as possible.
UKCR as an enduring model
Our reservists will be paid individuals who commit to being available for deploying to support emergency response and recovery. Government and military planners often rely on volunteers and communities to fill in the gaps, but as crises become more frequent, for instance, flooding due to climate change, the country cannot rely on volunteers alone. By rewarding individuals and training them, it ensures a more efficient and effective response in times of a crisis.
This standpoint is echoed in a government report, the Select Committee on Risk Assessment and Risk Planning, which states, “There should be a central co-ordinating point for a national voluntary response, mapping capability regularity, directing volunteers to under-resourced voluntary forces and facilitating better liaison amongst voluntary groups and between the sector and the Government.”
Where are we?
We will be a national organisation and aim to have reservists throughout the UK providing local resilience support. We intend to engage with young people and people from disadvantaged backgrounds who will benefit from gaining transferable skill sets that can be used to benefit themselves and their communities.
We have a central office and training centre, currently based in Dunsfold Aerodrome and we are actively seeking other locations from which to operate. Our aim is to have 10 locations across the UK with the capacity for up to 500 Reservists at each.