A ‘trailblazing’ project has launched to improve the mental health of communities at risk of flooding in West Yorkshire.
Five areas in Kirklees will be targeted initially, after a successful bid for £36,000 from the Environment Agency was made by the West Yorkshire Flood Innovation Programme (WYFIP).
The funding will enable the launch of a development stage, focussing on how the project can build on other work in the flooding and mental health fields and how learning can be shared.
The development stage will also involve developing a business case for the project and identifying other funding sources.
Kirklees Council, which is leading the project, will spend £20,000 on psychological first aid training for frontline staff that work within communities at high risk of flooding.
It is hoped that by improving people’s mental wellbeing, they will become more resilient and better able to quickly recover from flood incidents.
It is the first time such funding has been used to reduce the mental health impacts of flooding, according to the WYFIP, a partnership of the region’s local authorities, the Environment Agency, Yorkshire Water, and researchers at the University of Leeds.
Kirklees Council’s cabinet member for environment and highways, Munir Ahmed, said: ‘There is need for investment now, as a consequence of worsening climate change is that issues of both flooding and the associated mental health consequences are expected to become worse in the future.’
