It's the end of an era...

Last week, on a bright sunny day in Datchet, I spent the day working on the Floodmobile, talking to people who had been flooded in 2014 or people who have moved to the area since and now live at risk of being flooded in the future.

What made yesterday hugely different for me is that it was my last day working on the Floodmobile, in a community setting.

Originally, my concept of a Floodmobile was one way of increasing the understanding and uptake of Property Flood Resilience (PFR). It launched during the Ox-Cam Pathfinder project and, very quickly, became so much more.  Once the project had ended, the Floodmobile and I travelled all over the country into both newly flooded areas and areas of flood risk.

Somewhere along that long journey, the first exhibition trailer died dramatically just before a big event, however we saw the new Floodmobile launch during Flood Awareness Week last year – which to my delight not only has seating for people who really need to sit, but also has heating. So good on cold days!

I’ve been working within communities for 25 years now, but the last five years spent working on the Floodmobile have been SO intense. Often travelling miles to get to a location, following by sometimes hugely emotional and busy sessions. (On occasions with over two hundred people visiting and just me working on it!)

I’ve taken people on a journey to give them hope and to show that they can take back control. I’ve also helped with numerous insurance issues (and let me tell you, managing an insurance claim can be almost as worse as being flooded!)

One highlight was when a woman who was in tears with her problems gave me her insurance details and I immediately emailed the company; she received a call from her insurance company whilst still on the Floodmobile!

Yesterday, an elderly man came in and said the person they were buying their new bungalow from sent them photos of the kitchen badly flooded, only two days before they moved in. He went onto say that his wife was a big researcher and practically stalked my website for information and if she hadn’t been ill yesterday, she’d have come to meet me, however she’d asked her husband to attend on her behalf, to shake my had to say thank you!

My moto has always been, ‘If I can help just one person’… so yesterday, in its understated way, was a fitting end to my community Floodmobile work.

Taking on the trauma of thousands of people can take its toll and so can the hours spent travelling and supporting people; I’m no spring chicken! So now is the right time to stop, decompress. BUT do not worry; I’m going nowhere – new projects await me.  I will continue working within the ‘PFR family’ and will share further updates over the coming weeks.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me, visited me and made my days out in the Floodmobile truly memorable!

Copyright: Mary Long-Dhonau, June 2026