Civil Aid Voluntary Rescue Association (CAVRA) is a voluntary civil defence & search and rescue organisation operating within England & Wales. It is a registered charity, and its purpose is to provide back-up personnel to the emergency services in a range of situations, providing support at public events and during times of adverse weather conditions, natural disaster or civil emergency.[1]
CAVRA briefly ceased operations in July 2024 due to the retirement of Chairman Ivor Davies and a number of other trusties.[2] Once new trustees were appointed in November 2024, the charity has relaunched, with an updated image, and new operating area, now covering England & Wales, rather than just the South Wales area from mid to the south Wales coast previously covered.
The relaunched CAVRA is split into three main sections, these are outlined below
CAVRA Teams
Community Emergency Volunteers
The Community Emergency Volunteer (CEV) Teams are CAVRA's core operations. These localised teams, operating in a town or local council area provide trained and uniformed volunteers that are able to support emergency services, local authorities and their local community in the following situations.
Post Flooding/Severe Weather clear up
Evacuation/Rest Center Administration/Support
Door to door information sharing/evacuation
4x4 Vehicle Support
CEVs are the entry-level position for individuals volunteering with CAVRA, with constant recruitment open across the United Kingdom.[3]
National Emergency Resilience Support Unit
This unit provides a national capability for specialist operations. Currently, this is split into four sub-sections
Rescue Unit - split into Water Based Rescue, and Land Based Rescue. Our Water Rescue Teams are trained in accordance with DEFRA National Flood Rescue requirements, and our Land Rescue Teams undertake training provided by UKLSI.
Communications Unit – provides radio communications capabilities in areas where there is insufficient signal, or infrastructure is deemed inoperative. Also responsible for the setup and operation of a VACC (Voluntary Agency Coordination Centre) which is ideal for MASHAs (Multi-Agency Strategic Holding Areas) or similar concepts. CAVRA can provided power, heat, and lighting for multi-agency use during incidents.
Medical Unit – provides volunteers trained in basic first aid for assisting with walking wounded in SRCs.
Emergency Catering Unit – provides food to team members on operational duty and those members of the community rendered homeless and/or deprived of normal facilities.
Volunteers are selected from the Community Resilience Unit to progress onto the National Resilience Support Unit once they have shown dedication and commitment to the charity.
Headquarters
The volunteers within the Headquarters section includes the Senior Leadership Team, Trustees and the Administration, Health & Safety and Training Teams.
Headquarters are responsible for the strategic level of the charity, and oversee governance, training and procedure.
25th Anniversary
2025 is the 25th Anniversary of CAVRA, and is expected to be highlighted by celebrations at the Emergency Services Show, held at the NEC, as the event coincides with their foundation month, September.
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