Is the government giving out free survival kits? No, but the checklist and some help are free

What is being shared

People are searching for free government survival kits, and the government's Be Ready campaign, launched on 22 October, has brought the question back. Headlines have used the words “survival kit” since before the campaign: YorkshireLive's of 11 April 2025 read “UK households urged to pack 72-hour survival kit after being told 'prepare'”.

Read quickly, “households urged to pack a kit” can sound like a kit is on its way. That article was about the government's earlier Prepare website, and about European advice to keep 72 hours of supplies. In both, households gather the supplies themselves.

Who actually said what

The Cabinet Office's launch release asks households to take simple steps, including to “keep a small supply of non-perishable food and bottled water at home.” It says more than five hundred organisations have signed up to share the campaign, alongside GOV.UK and government social media accounts, with social media and radio advertising over the coming weeks and months. It mentions no kit, pack or mailing to homes.

The Be Ready checklist is a list to tick, which you can download. “Being ready for 3 days helps you manage while support reaches those most in need,” it says, and: “You could have some of the items at home already.” Our Be Ready guide goes through its 15 lines.

Governments have posted advice before, but as booklets, not supplies. In 2004 the government announced a booklet, Preparing for Emergencies, to be delivered to every household in the UK. Sweden has sent its brochure on crisis and war to the public five times, first in 1943; the latest edition is dated November 2024.

What is confirmed, and what is not

Confirmed: the government gives advice and a checklist, free. The release says “Many of the simple steps are quick and cost-free, like signing up to the Priority Services Register”, and that other steps are designed to be as low-cost as possible. Northern Ireland's nidirect advice also has households put their own emergency kit together.

Not confirmed: any national or local scheme that gives out kits. We found none on GOV.UK, the Be Ready site or nidirect, and no council or Local Resilience Forum scheme we could confirm. Be Ready suggests the reverse: if you have extra items, you could consider donating them to others who might not have the means to prepare their own households.

The free help that is real

The Priority Services Register is free across England, Scotland and Wales; Northern Ireland has Care Registers. You can join if, for example, you are of pensionable age, have children aged five or under at home, or rely on medical equipment. You register once with your electricity network operator, which shares your details with your gas and water companies.

Help differs by company, the register says, but can include bottled water during a water supply interruption, alternative heating and cooking facilities when your gas is off, priority help during power cuts, and welfare support from partners such as local authorities or the British Red Cross.

The British Red Cross offers free first aid apps and free workshops, including on first aid and preparing for floods. Emergency Alerts are free and need no sign-up or app.

What it means for your household

If you were hoping for a free kit, the nearest thing is the checklist plus what is already in your cupboards. Be Ready's advice is to check what you have first, then pick up missing items during regular shopping to spread the cost: “You don’t need to do it all at once.”

The checklist's first line is bottled water for 3 days: 3 litres per person per day for drinking, with more needed for other tasks such as cooking and washing. Our kit builder sizes the list for your household, and our £30 supermarket kit shows how far a small budget goes. If you would rather buy a ready-made bag, our survival kit guide compares them against the official list.

What not to do

Don't give bank or personal details to anything offering a free government survival kit. We found no official warning about such an offer, but GOV.UK's general advice is not to give out private information, reply to texts or click on links if you're not sure a message is genuine. Forward suspicious texts free to 7726 and emails to report@phishing.gov.uk.

Know how real government messages look. GOV.UK says the Emergency Alerts service will never send you emails or ask for personal details, and an alert includes a phone number or a link to GOV.UK. And don't feel you must buy a branded kit: the checklist says you could have some of the items at home already.