A community help group which was set up for those people who were severely affected by the floods is still helping residents weeks later.

Belper was hit by serious flooding in November after heavy rain caused the River Derwent to over-flow.

If you want to read about the impact the floods had on Belper click here.

Posted by Mihaela Palameta Veira on Monday, 18 November 2019

 

The Belper Flood Support Group was set up by Gwen Tresidder, a Communications Manager from Belper, after seeing people offering donations and help to those who had been affected by the flooding.

Many houses and businesses were affected throughout the town due to the River Derwent bursting it’s banks, and members of the public were expressing their concerns over social media, mainly on Facebook.

Gwen’s reasoning for starting the Flood Hub group was to put all of the flood conversations in one place, to help those who were seeking help and make the posts available to everyone.

The Belper Food Support Group is based in an office on King Street

The group still has over 850 members and was set up to condense all the offers which were being put over Facebook to make it easier for people to see and contact for help if in need of assistance.

Gwen, 46, told Storyhub: “The first week was crazy and not at all manageable.

“But it did and still does feel good to know we were helping people out there.”

Gwen Tresidder, 46, from Belper, set up the Facebook page in November.

Christine Chambers, 40, also from Belper, helped set up the ‘hub’ by offering up her office space which is located on King Street in the town where they have since ‘based’ the group.

The hub has helped around 20 different households so far with different problems which developed from the flooding in November and has had many people volunteer to help with cleaning up houses and businesses.

At the peak of the crisis in November, there were 50 volunteers helping, with many being located to a particular problem area to give their help.

Volunteers have helped with activities ranging from gardening to cleaning up flooring to helping fill and deliver sandbags.

As well as helping households, the group have also helped two businesses, many sports clubs and a primary school in Denby.

There are now 15 volunteers who are continuing to watch the Facebook page and responding to specific requests if needed.

Surprisingly the hub is still taking on new households to this day, weeks after the flooding.

Gwen added: “We’re trying to keep a low level of support for those who still need it. It’s a big trauma to have your house flooded.

“There are people still not in their houses so we want to be there for them and also for the ones that are getting back on their feet. We’re going to try and keep it low key.

“We want to mothball everything in the hope that if Belper does flood again then we can spring back into action.”

 

If the town floods again and you don’t know what precautions to take here are some useful tips.

 

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