South Devon Lifehouse Network

Lifehouse - Resilient Neighbourhoods

Facing up to a future where emergencies, crises, and even collapse of the systems that we rely on is terrifying, but rather than getting so overwhelmed that we can’t think clearly, there are many actions we can take together to make sure that we can be as resilient as possible. Resilience comes in many forms as well as practical - being part of a caring community and facing these challenges together gives us emotional and psychological resilience too .

A lifehouse is a neighbourhood or building that is concerned with building resilient communities that are preparing to support local people as we face the challenges of dealing with the “long emergency“ of climate related crises and disasters and potential collapse of various systems we have relied on.

We wish to empower neighbourhoods to prepare practically for climate and other shocks like power outages, food scarcity, drought, pandemics, floods etc, as well as helping each other move to a more sustainable lifestyle.

We are already networking with the great initiatives currently operating in the area and plan to establish a network of lifehouse resilient neighbourhoods in 2026. We are applying for some funding and have had meetings to begin this process of setting up the South Devon Lifehouse network.

Next Network Meeting

Tuesday 20th January, 7-9pm
Totnes Methodist Church, 44 Fore Street, TQ9 5RP

“WHY, WHEN, WHAT ? LETS PREP!”  

In the UK we are now feeling the effects of the climate and other related crises -flooding, energy failures, cost of living, and food supply threats etc. What can we do to prepare and where do our neighbours come in?

Kimwei McCarthy will lead us through the steps he has taken so far and what the process has been like. Whether you know nothing about this, already done it  and have ideas to share, or it’s on your list of New Year resolutions, all are welcome to this practical and informative evening.

This South Devon Lifehouse event will be at the Methodist Church Hall, Fore street, Totnes, on Tues, Jan 20th 7-9pm, no need to book. Hot drinks and cake provided for comfort while  we discuss how many tins of baked beans we might need!

Background

We launched the Lifehouse project at our Community Resilience Forum in September 2025 with the input of Dr. Gail Bradbrook and Transition Streets, and about 100 people attended.

If you would like to explore the themes covered that feed into the shaping of this project, there are a number of resources to support that:

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• Dr Gail Bradbrook’s powerpoint presentation
• Further information on collapse - handout
• Resources for navigating collapse
• Climate Resilience Docs
• Totnes Emergency Plan
• Building Resilience in Communities

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Further Steps

All welcome to find out more about this project, join the mailing list at lifehouse@transitiontowntotnes.org or Signal group at

https://signal.group/#CjQKINuQzisq0F8AayQRD1bAiQqNQfj12KvFzfVNCudMZrUtEhD65X80jYLHVbqHNapgyx7S

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