A CHAMPION for community-based flood resilience, Mary Dhonau OBE wants to hear from people who live or work in a flood risk area.

Malmesbury is one such town in Wiltshire, having suffered serious floods in both 2012 and 2013 when the River Avon broke its banks.

In 2012, four people were rescued by firefighters when the town centre was awash during the worst floods in 70 years.

The following year, roads were closed and more properties suffered flood damage.

Now Mary, chief executive of the Know Your Flood Risk Campaign wants testimonies about such situations for a new eBook that provides real-life examples of flood resilience case studies.

A prolific flood awareness and resilience campaigner, she is leader of one of the six Government task groups, where members are working to deliver the findings of the Property Flood Resilience Action Plan report.

With Mary’s task group focusing on community innovation, her book will provide best practice examples of real people who have been impacted by flood and adapted their properties internally to make them resilient to future flood incidents.

She said: “I look on flood risk management as a jigsaw puzzle, with lots of pieces working together to reduce risk. The bit I am concerned about is the bit in the middle - the person who gets flooded.

"We are often told to become more ‘flood resilient’, so in my quest to help communities across the country, I’m keen to find out what people have done to adapt their homes to reduce the future impact of a flood.”

Mary will travel across the country to areas that have been affected by flood and interview homeowners and business owners about the adaptations they have made.

The stories will then be used to produce a free on-line resource that can be downloaded to help others.

She said: “I know from first-hand experience just how appalling being flooded is, yet I think that the recovery from a flood is worse than being flooded itself.

"I’m keen to find out just what other people have done to cut down the amount of time they are out of their homes after being flooded and, as want to produce an eBook that everyone can download, in order to benefit from other’s personal experiences."

To get involved, contact Mary Dhonau via the website knowyourfloodrisk.co.uk.