Rest centre

The Northern Ireland guide to emergency planning arrangements, published on gov.uk, is the source that defines the term. Its glossary says a rest centre is a "building where people evacuated from premises can go to receive appropriate shelter and welfare care until they can return to the evacuated area or be otherwise accommodated".

The chapter on evacuation says a rest centre is "central to the co-ordinated provision of practical support to those involved in an evacuation incident". The premises people are evacuated from may be residential, industrial, commercial, entertainment or education properties. The facilities offered depend on the characteristics of the event and the population evacuated. In Northern Ireland a Community Trust usually nominates a rest centre co-ordinator, the contact point who sets a centre up when notified that one may be needed, and a rest centre manager with overall responsibility for welfare services to evacuees.

The guide lists rest centre accommodation among the welfare services provided in a response, and assisting at rest centres with food and dry clothing among the activities of voluntary organisations. It notes that information gathered at rest centres is matched with that from hospitals, that translators may be needed there, and that pre-identified rest centres can be checked in advance for accessibility.