Building Climate Emergency Resilience in Rochdale
As part of the Rochdale Communities Prepared project, Groundwork’s Community Climate Resilience Lead worked closely with key partners in Rochdale to provide the knowledge and build confidence so that the community was prepared for, able to respond to, and recover from a range of climate related emergencies, such as interruptions to power or water supplies, flooding and heatwaves.
ENGAGEMENT
Conversations with the general public about climate resilience
During the summer of 2025 we attended family friendly events across Rochdale including the Feel Good Family picnics and The Herds to gather perspectives on climate change, resilience and what people valued about their local area.
We spoke with over 280 people with only 14% of people feeling that Rochdale is ready to face the impacts of climate change.
We also learnt:
- Resilience was seen more as a personal quality – bouncing back and carrying on through tough times
- Feeling safe was a common concern, which community preparedness could support
- Many recognised more education and support to face climate impacts is needed
- People really value their parks and greenspaces in Rochdale and events to bring people together for community health and happiness
Conversations with older residents on extreme weather
In November and December 2025, we worked with Your Trust’s Active Living team to deliver Weathering Well: Communities Prepared workshops across Your Trust leisure centres in Rochdale. The sessions brought older residents together to share how changing and extreme weather is affecting their daily lives and discuss what support helps them feel more prepared.
Conversations with the Kashmiri community on energy & climate resilience
In December 2025, we were joined by colleagues from our Energy Advice team and delivered two energy‑focused sessions at the Kashmir Youth Project in Rochdale. Asma and Ansar, who lead KYP’s women’s and men’s groups every week, co‑facilitated the sessions and translated the content so everyone could take part fully.
OUTCOMES & ACTION
Following our initial engagement activities we began to tailor our activity in response to what the community shared with us, focusing on providing direct support to people who need assistance, developing resources and building skills and confidence.
Generating sign up’s for the Extra Care Register
Since the start of the project we’ve supported 86 people to join the extra care register. Working in partnership with Rochdale Boroughwide Housing, Your Trust and others, we arranged face to face drop ins to support people with signing up there and then, helping keep the process simple.
Preparing for heatwaves with Rochdale residents
While conversations in the UK often focus on cold and wet conditions, climate change is bringing more frequent and extreme heatwaves, putting vulnerable people at risk, however very few people we engaged with recognised the support available to them during warm weather events. As such, we partnered with Rochdale Boroughwide Housing to deliver a number of ‘Beat the Heat’ sessions to help older residents prepare for hotter weather.
Strengthening Digital Inclusion and Community Resilience in Rochdale
Following concerns raised by local people that preparedness measures, such as signing up for weather alerts, were primarily online, we’ve been working in partnership with Rochdale Council’s Digital Inclusion team to help increase residents skills and awareness so they can feel prepared for future emergencies.
This project has been made possible thanks to funding from Electricity North West.
