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Guides/Planning

The family
meeting point

The plan fits on a card. Two meeting points, one phone number outside the area, and who collects whom from school. Fifteen minutes at the kitchen table, then it lives in every bag's document pouch and you never think about it again.

4 min readChecked against gov.uk Prepare guidanceUpdated November 2026Print this guide
Twoplaces

Near and far

  1. Near: somewhere outside the house you can all reach on foot in five minutes, for a fire or a gas leak. The lamp post on the corner, the bus stop, a neighbour's gate. Not the car; the car may be the problem.
  2. Far: somewhere outside the area, for a flood or an evacuation. A relative or friend on higher ground, with room for the family and the pets. Ask them this week; write their address on the card.
  3. Walk to both with the children and let them lead the way back.
  4. Agree the rule: if we are separated, go to the near point and wait; if the near point is unsafe, go to the far one; if neither, ring the out-of-area contact.
Onenumber

The out-of-area contact

  1. Local lines jam in a local emergency; a call to another city often gets through. Choose one person outside your area as the message board: everyone rings them, they pass on who is safe and where.
  2. Everyone learns the number, including children old enough to dial. It is the one number on the card to know by heart.
  3. Text first, call second. A text gets through on a signal a call won't.
  4. Tell that person what you have agreed, and send them a copy of the card.

Never

Never plan to meet 'at home' after an evacuation, and never make the plan depend on one phone being charged. Paper, two places, one number.

Whocollects whom

School, nursery, work

  1. Write down who collects each child from school and nursery if the parents cannot, and tell the school. Schools release children only to named adults.
  2. If one parent works far away, the plan says the other goes to the children first, and the far parent goes to the far point, not home.
  3. Pets: who is nearest to the house and can get the carriers. The Scout bag by the door makes that a thirty-second job.
  4. Review the card when the clocks change, with the bag check. Numbers move; children change schools.

Sources, checked November 2026