Your first 3 days: a practical starting point

Start with an ordinary evening

Imagine arriving home with no electricity, no working card reader at the corner shop and an unreliable phone connection. What would you want within reach? Use that question to choose useful supplies rather than an expensive ready-made kit.

Do these three things first

- Put a working torch somewhere everyone can find it.

- Set aside drinking water and familiar food you can eat without cooking.

- Write important phone numbers on paper.

Make it fit your home

A flat with limited storage needs a different arrangement from a family house. Spread purchases over normal shopping trips. Include dietary requirements, accessibility needs and pets. Store your supplies where you can reach them safely, rather than at the back of a high cupboard.

Check, use and replace

Give the kit one clearly labelled home. Put the oldest food at the front and replace it as you use it. Add a six-monthly calendar reminder to review dates, batteries and household changes. Your plan should be manageable, not a test of how much equipment you can buy.