The Community Preparedness Trust (CPT) is committed to helping communities across New Zealand strengthen disaster preparedness and resilience through community-led initiatives. 

Established in late 2023 following Cyclone Gabrielle, the CPT is focused on proactively working with communities to reduce the negative impacts experienced by communities during major emergencies and disasters. 

The CPT often seeks direct support from communities across Aotearoa and works with them to strengthen resilience, especially vulnerable communities are (or are likely to be) disproportionally affected by growing natural hazard risks and climate change events (such as flooding, storms, earthquakes, fires etc). 

With financial and non-financial support from a growing group of partners and organisations across New Zealand, the CPT is able to help deliver community-first initiatives that are focused on strengthening local, regional and/or national resilience. This can be through training, resourcing, aid, disaster relief or strengthening community response capability.  

The focus of the CPT is also to provide support and expertise to communities where it’s not currently available locally or where there are gaps in our emergency management system. This typically includes to volunteer community groups, rural and isolated communities, flood-prone communities, high-risk areas, non-for-profits, Iwi, marae, community hubs, community response teams and other similar volunteer groups with an interest in community emergency management. 

The CPT is therefore able to operate and drive change across all 4 R’s of emergency management being: Reduction >  Readiness > Response >  Recovery. 

It does this by focusing on: 

• Delivery and Outcomes (not just policy) – working hard with those individuals doing the mahi on the ground to build their preparedness and resilience to current and future events.
• Measurable Impact – everything we do leads to real, actionable and measurable resilience.
• Community Connection – linking funders, partners, civil defence groups, emergency services and communities with a shared mission of unity and safety.
• National Consistency – building toward a national minimum standard for preparedness across Aotearoa.

At the heart of the CPT’s direction is: Ready Together – a shared commitment to prepare 500 communities by 2030 to a nationally consistent minimum standard of preparedness. 

The CPT is governed by an independent board that meets monthly to review progress, approve funding/projects, and guide the mission forward. We are backed by a growing network of national and regional partners (including FIRST72 and Taskforce Kiwi) across many industries including funders, private businesses and business leaders, philanthropists, members of parliament, central and local government and other organisations and individuals who share a shared belief that stronger communities make for a safer New Zealand.

Whether you’re looking to support our cause, make a difference in your community, or seek support for local initiatives, the CPT would love to hear from you.

Together, we can make sure no community is left behind.

He waka eke noa

We are all in this together