Eccles Prince’s Trust Team Smarten up Westwood Smarties!!

Written by John Cullen - Prince's Trust Team member, age 19

Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service has been working in partnership with City West Housing Trust (CWHT) to run a Prince’s Trust Team in Eccles. This is the first time GMFRS and CWHT have worked together to run a Prince’s Trust programme and the first time there has been a team like this in Eccles.

Eccles Team 1 are a group of 12 young people aged between 16 and 24. We have been completing a two week community project at Westwood Smarties in Winton. Westwood Smarties is a local nursery for toddlers who are from the Winton estate and surrounding neighbourhood.

We chose to complete the project at the nursery because they receive no government funding and it doesn’t cost very much to send your child there. I have lived in Winton most of my life and thought it would be good to give something back to my local community.

Angela Sands, the Team leader for the programme, said: "The team has worked tirelessly to renovate and clean up the run down nursery garden. They have been digging, painting and creating a mural for the children.

"They have been wood chipping an area and creating a vegetable patch so the children can learn about growing potatoes and carrots. All of the team members are here to learn new skills, gain confidence and try to gain employment and skills for life."

The murial completed by the team	Stepping stones were added

GMFRS has been running Prince’s Trust programmes in Greater Manchester for over 10 years and has helped hundreds of young people to gain further qualifications and jobs. GMFRS is also working to offer future employment opportunities for Prince’s Trust team members.

We have been fundraising for the project, by bag packing at a local ASDA supermarket, holding a cake sale, name the teddy competition and a raffle. In total we raised more than £600 for the project.

We want to show that good things can happen in our local community of the Salford West area and Eccles, despite the recent sad events currently being shown in the media. The young people who live in this area aren’t all criminals and vandals - we can make a difference, and the local community has been really supportive of our project - we have received donations from City West, Salford City Reds, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, B&Q and Wilkinsons. Lots of local businesses have also helped raise funds and donated prizes for our raffle.

Eccles Station Manager Paul Smitham said: "It's fantastic that the community of Winton has a lovely new nursery garden and that is down to the hard work and teamwork of these inspiring young people.

"It's wonderful to be working in partnership with City West to run the scheme at Eccles Community Fire Station and offer this opportunity to young people in the area for the first time."

Written by John Cullen - Team member, age 19
For further info contact our Team leader Angela Sands on 07854494816 or sandsa@manchesterfire.gov.uk

Fire Safety at Adults Learning Disability Event

Written by Apprentice CSA Chris Toon

GMFRS was given the chance to help at an event last week for one of our more vulnerable groups within our society, which was one of four to be run across Greater Manchester throughout the year for adults with learning disabilities.

Trafford Community Learning Disability Team held the event for adults with learning disabilities and their carers. The event was held at Partington community centre from 10am late into the afternoon in an effort to raise awareness of the issues many people with disabilities face and also to provide them with information and safety advice to help them in their daily lives.

There were various stalls and activities set up in the room including free fruit smoothies, healthy eating advice, getting your blood pressure checked by the NHS nurses, dental care advice, a stall from Mencap, information from Greater Manchester Police around hate crimes and Fire Safety from ourselves.

We brought a lot of equipment with us to suit the various needs of some of the attendees. We brought our projector which played two videos on a loop for the audience throughout the day. The first was an adapted version to our Fire Safety in the Home presentation while the second was a fire safety video made with and starring several individuals with disabilities themselves, so was easier to relate to for the audience.

We also brought photos of our firefighters in action to give a visual representation of what they do and how they work. We had laminated versions of Spot the Hazard which many of our visitors got involved in as well as our interactive house on the wall where people can stick up the cut out smoke alarms and fires and place them where they thought best. This also allowed us to practice escape routes so the individual could learn the best route out of a fire.

We also brought some smoke cubes with us so that people there were able to get an idea of what it smelled like to be in a fire in preparation in case it should ever happen to them so they know what to expect. We had to wrap them up in several carrier bags over and over as they started to make the whole room smell of smoke!

It was a great event overall and we managed to educate a lot of people about fire safety and helped learn how to spot hazards in their own home. There will be future events coming up later in the year around Manchester and hopefully we will be able to keep supporting this great event and sharing our safety messages with the public.

GMFRS get Apprentices on the road!

Written by Apprentice CSA Chris Toon

As an organisation, GMFRS has provided us with help and support in order to become the first apprentices they have ever taken on.

Within our role we have each been given our own boroughs to cover, each with its own issues and problems to look at and deal with. We have risen to this challenge over the past eight months and we are now dealing with our own jobs and projects. The one thing that has stood in our way and made things difficult to work on our own was the inability to be able to drive.

Fortunately, this has been noticed and GMFRS has now taken the initiative to help their apprentices with their driving lessons. We have just started working with Latics driving school in order to get our apprentices the skills needed to be driving our company vehicles on the roads.

Several of our apprentices who were eligible to drive but had not started yet have since been given the option to start lessons provided by the organisation. These lessons will last for whatever the required period for each apprentice to ensure the GMFRS is happy to send us out into the public in its vehicles in order to deliver our messages.

One of our Apprentices, Christian Krebs stated: "My whole experience with Latics has been really good. The driving instructor is really friendly and explained everything very well. My overall experience has been good and I would recommend them to others."

The option taken by the organisation to support these young individuals in this area shows the willingness and forward thinking they are putting into their youth engagement programs and will help us to reach a wider audience with our work.

Community Safety Team Leader for Salford Borough Stephanie Walters said: "The apprentices have been able to provide additional assistance to the Community safety Team in order to support them in delivering their prevention initiatives. This has allowed our team to become more efficient as we are able to cover a bigger work load. We are looking forward to seeing them driving so they are able to continue setting up and delivering their own projects and really show how much they have learned and developed since joining our team."

The experience so far with Latics has been a very successful one due to the helpful nature of the staff and patience shown with our new drivers. Hopefully this programme will continue into the future to help any future apprentices show fully how much they can bring to the organisation.

We are now just looking forward to watching our apprentices get out in the community and really start being able to help make a difference in delivering our fire prevention messages.

First Apprentice Secures A Job With GMFRS

Story by Community Safety Support Officer (Formerly Apprentice Will)

This time one year ago I was given a great opportunity to join a Princes Trust 12 week course at Manchester Central Fire Station.

This was a great experience for me as I learnt a lot about myself and experienced activities I never thought I would ever be able to complete.

I passed the course with flying colours and really felt throughout the 12 weeks that it was a life changing experience. Shortly after completing the course I received an e-mail inviting me to apply for the Community Safety Advisor Apprenticeship and I jumped at the opportunity.

I have since been able to keep in touch with many of the people within GMFRS that helped me to complete my course and have been not only offered help and support, but I have been able to return it by supporting my old Prince's Trust Team leaders with activities on the next course and with the next group of people to be helped by GMFRS.

Since successfully becoming one of the 12 apprentices, I have been based at Manchester Borough where I was given a warm welcome by the rest of the Prevention Team. After a short while I was already making strong partnerships with the community safety advisors, working with them day in day out. I have been able to work, not only within my team, but I was shown the trust and freedom to develop my own ideas and allow me to grow as an individual within the organisation. Four months into the apprenticeship I was given the opportunity to work on my own initiative booking Home Safety Checks and completing them with one of my fellow apprentices, Tom Kelly.

I received an e-mail alerting me to an opportunity to apply for a Community Safety Support Officer role in Bolton. My eyes lit up as I was reading the job description as it described the work I was currently doing and enjoying in Manchester Central. Some of my colleagues had been CSSOs in the past and they explained the role would suit me and offered their support to apply.  I was delighted when I was successful securing the role I have been working at Bolton for a week now and again been given a warm welcome.

I am looking forward to developing my new role in Bolton as I enjoy meeting new people and facing new challenges. I know the rest of the apprentices have what it takes to gain further employment and I wish each one of them the best of luck, I am fully aware that they are very proud that we have started making a big impact in the organisation and now we have the first one of us with a job.

I would advise any young person to apply for apprenticeships as they are a great way to gain qualifications whilst you work and also it gives you the experience and skills set you need to complete a full time role the job you are interested in. I would not have been able to get the experience and obtain the role I have without my apprenticeship from Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service.

Finally I would like to thank the apprentices and Manchester Central prevention team for supporting me, a special thanks to Angela Baker and Claire Nicholls for taking time to teach me everything I know about fire safety. Not forgetting Ros Hopkins and Georgina Marks for being great managers and supporting me through new and different challenges.

Tameside College Event

By Apprentice Community Safety Advisor Peter Ashton

On 20^th May 2013 I had the privilege to organise an event for Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service to attend the College for a services day. Attending along with us were the Territorial Army, the North West Ambulance Service, and also Greater Manchester Police.

 The TA brought along with them a 105 field gun paintballing range, a climbing wall as well as various other pieces of army equipment to demonstrate to the public.

The NHS attended with an Ambulance showing people around it, they explained the peices of equipment that they would use on a day to day basis.

The GMP attended with a road car, equipped with a sophisticated Number Plate Recognition System. They also brought a new undercover BMW road response car.

As I was organising for GMFRS to attend, the best thing I could think about doing was basing our day on Road Traffic Collisions. This was because the ages of students from 17 – 25 attending the College fit into the categories where many either drive or may be learning to drive. This fits the age range of young deaths on the road, with either themselves being a victim or potentially being the cause.

At first I originally planned for a crashed car to be there so the Fire Service Crew attending could cut it up and show people a demonstration on how to cut people out of an RTC. Unfortunately, due to insufficient room, I was unable to plan that, therefore I asked the pump would they give people a tour by showing people around it and also explain the equipment they use on a daily basis. We also had a damaged car which was involved in an unfortunate crash involving a young driver. We also brought the small incident unit to explain their roles.

I had a stall inside the College as well promoting what we do as a whole organisation. I was encouraging people to test their smoke alarms weekly if they had one, if they did not, then they could book one or book one for their parents to get a Home Safety Check.

Actors at an earlier road safety demonstration

Due to us being there for road safety I thought it would be appropriate to provide advice and leaflets on road safety to the young people. This was done to help prevent collisions from happening or minimalizing the risk.

I designed a questionnaire to get views from the young people themselves on road safety and also a few questions on being under the influence of alcohol whilst driving. One of the major factors in the questions was asking how many people wore their seatbelts. The results that I collected were outstanding. The amount of young people that admitted being in a car with a friend or driving themselves under the influence of alcohol was phenomenal. We explained that they were at major risk from being in a collision. Due to this, we are currently negotiating with the college about presenting the Drive to Live Campaign within the College. This is a workshop which actors would demonstrate and also act out scenes from a collision, who it affects and also getting the young adults involved.

The whole day was a huge success with visits from Peter O’Reilly and Dave Keelan who were keen to see what was going on. The event has shown and hopefully encouraged the young adults to be more careful and take extra caution whilst driving or being a passenger in a car.

Following Driving Safety will ensure your Driving Safely!!

Working in Salford

Post by Apprentice Community Safety Advisor Chris Toon

Working within and being at the heart of our communities is a very large aspect of our role at the Fire Service for our Community Safety Team. We aim to make a positive impact on the people around us and educate them to reduce the risk of accident or injury to themselves or the ones around them. Unfortunately, due to this role, we also get to see the not so nice side to life around Manchester.

Yesterday, Christian and I were working in Salford, in an area that we have had several issues with over the past few months. One of the main problems we faced here is that many young people in the area have developed an unhealthy fascination with setting fire to the wooded or grassed areas which are on the outskirts of many estates. This is a common issue in many areas across Manchester and unfortunately is something we are seeing more frequently with in many instances, horrible consequences.

What many people do not realise is that grass fires can spread extremely quickly and catch people off guard. The fires easily catch the fascination of children, as it isn’t always easy to see how many dangers it can bring. A major cause for concern for us was due to the number of reports we have had of children encouraging others to go onto the fields when clearly it was not safe. For safety information for adults or children please follow the link below.

http://www.safe4spring.com/

Another cause for concern which was highlighted on our travels across Manchester currently is wheelie bins. There has been a large uptake in wheelie bin fires and it is obvious, again due to injuries caused, that some people just truly do not understand how dangerous it can be. On several occasions not only has the person who has set the bin on fire ended up injured themselves, (aerosols explode in bins when under extreme heat) but someone close to the home has ended up hurt as well.

Unfortunately, anti-social behaviour is increasing across Manchester and there have been hundreds of calls this year already about wheelie bins being set on fire. If you are aware of people doing this or you see someone involved then we would ask you to do the responsible thing and call the police. Far too much time and resources are wasted attending fires when real people genuinely need the help.

Stephanie Walters, Community Safety Team Leader for Salford stated, ‘We are constantly starting new initiatives to engage youngsters and to get involved within our communities. Our Fire Cadets are running weekly from Eccles station, we run Youth Engagement courses at stations across the borough and we are always looking for new ways to reduce the risk to our residents in Salford.

For children reading this, please take note of the information we have provided and take the time to look on the website. To the parents, please highlight the messages we provide with our Safe 4 Spring Campaign to your children. For any parents who are concerned, please look at and request a FireSmart intervention on the link below.

http://www.manchesterfire.gov.uk/community_work/firesmart.aspx

This is not to get someone in trouble, FireSmart is an initiative to challenge fire setting behaviour and educate children on a one to one basis. The request can be made by phoning our contact centre on 0800555815. Hopefully if we can all make the effort to change the behaviour in our areas, we can start making a positive impact together.



GMFRS & Princes Trust are on the ball....

Post by Apprentice Community Safety Advisor Christian Krebs

On the April 12 GMFRS Prince’s Trust Team East 25 and GMFRS Apprentices got together to form a football team to play against Eccles College in a charity game. We played against a group of youths with various learning difficulties and disabilities. We met up before the game to discuss tactics and to get a team photo.

We played almost a full length game, with each half lasting 35 minutes. There were some brilliant performances displayed from the students playing for Eccles College. Our team took the lead within ten minutes of kick off through a fortunate own goal, a deflected clearance luckily pushed the ball past the keeper. Our lead was short lived and with a brilliant peace of football, our defence was undone as Eccles College scored an equaliser. At half time there was a great atmosphere between the two teams with banter coming from both, the score was tied at 1-1. At the start of the second half, we threatened their goal and came very close to taking the lead with a shot that hit the woodwork.

The game flowed well, with both teams going close to taking the lead. With only 15 minutes left to play, Eccles went ahead with a well-placed shot that left our goal keeper little chance of saving it. We pushed back hard to try and equalise but with 10 minutes to play, Eccles scored again to make it 3-1. It was unfortunate due to leading initially but we fought back. We applied pressure for the remainder of the game and got another goal but it was too late to come back from a brilliant performance from the students. The match ended with a well-deserved victory for Eccles College.

The match was set up as a charity game to raise funds for youngsters with learning difficulties and disabilities. It was organised with Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, The Prince's Trust and Eccles College. The event was well organised and gave us the opportunity to interact with other students and explain what we do for our apprenticeships within the Service. It was an eye opening experience of which I thoroughly enjoyed all of it. The day turned out to be a great success and we felt that our goals were achieved in helping the students we visited and helping the Prince's Trust Team take part.

Hopefully we can do more in the future to assist them with any more fantastic causes they choose to support.

The Fire Service Go Ape!!

Post by Apprentice Community Safety Advisor Greg Brunt

Since I started my apprenticeship I have been involved with lots of different projects and have been able to participate in Home Safety Checks, Fire Safety Talks, a Community Project and I have also been assisting Community Safety Advisor, Wendy Hall with the Tameside Fire Safety Ambassadors.

The Ambassadors are volunteers who are part of a local third sector origination called Hyde Community Action.  They meet every Sunday as the ACE girls group and agreed to pilot a 6 month scheme which was aimed at providing the young women with information about Greater Manchester Fire Service and the many and varied roles within the service. It is also to educate them about Fire Safety in the Home with a view to them assisting both Community Safety Advisors and Operational Crews in the future, interpreting when needed (into Bangladeshi) to ensure that our fire safety message is communicated throughout the community effectively.

We hold weekly seasons at Hyde Fire Station where we are teaching them the importance of fire safety in the home. They have currently been assisting on home safety checks and are preparing to host an event to showcase the work they have been doing and their achievements to date.

As part of a bonding exercise to enhance their teamwork skills we set out to Bolton for a day trip to Go Ape, the outdoor aerial assault course. I was asked to come along to help support and assist with any problems the Ambassadors faced. (Also to shake my colleagues out the trees when it’s time to go home)

After getting set up with our safety equipment I was chosen to be the class guinea pig and show the group how safe the courses are by demonstrating the safety clips and throwing myself off the platforms. Despite the worried faces, all of the girls completed the practice course with flying colours before tackling the main course.

Everyone started the course but despite the encouragement from the group some found it just a little too much and returned to earth. It was good to see the group supporting each other and I was proud that everyone had a least tried their hardest to face their fears. As we pushed on through the many obstacles and zip lines, they became more and more determined to complete the course and finish together. One of the instructors from Go Ape did comment on how well they pulled together as a team and how loud they were shouting words of reassurance from the trees and the ground watching.

The course was completed by a lot of smiling faces including myself. After the equipment was returned, the group relaxed with a BBQ and a few games of Giant Jenga and Connect Four. I thought that everyone had come away after trying or learning something new that will benefit them in the future, whether it is team building or leadership skills. Clearly this was a great team building exercise for the ambassadors and a fantastic program we are supporting.

After coming through the Princes Trust course and the help it has given me to get to where I am now, I feel that it is essential to highlight the things that we do as an organisation to support younger people. Thank you to the team for giving me the opportunity to come with you, I look forward to doing more work with the Tameside Fire Safety Ambassadors and all the new challenges it brings.

Down with the kids....

Post by Apprentice CSA: Gary Manville

On Wednesday Caitlin Alcock and I were invited to speak to parents at the Westfield Children’s Centre in Wigan. While we was there they showed us around the centre which was built only 7 years ago and I must admit that I wish I had went to that school as a child. They have their own climbing wall built in to the centre, they take the children out canoeing along with other adventure skills and this is also a primary school.

While we were there, they invited us to climb the wall which admittedly, we both jumped at the opportunity. ( I ensured the camera was off to avoid seeing me falling through the air) After I’d got back down I realised Caitlin was still on the way up, she wasn’t scared of heights, she just thought the rope wouldn’t take her weight.

After Caitlin had got down, we went back to work providing fire safety advice and booking home safety check for parents of the children at the sessions. Speaking to several of the parents, I found out more and more about not only the centres sporting activities, but what they can do to help the people there.

I must admit, I quite enjoyed the children’s entertainer they sent as Caitlin and I were fascinated by the magic tricks and how he had done them. Shortly after this act however, once the music started, the children decided it was time for us to dance and this was followed on by taking Caitlin and I into the middle of the room to dance with them. I’m quite sure there are going to be a few parents thinking we looked quite funny trying to dance along to Gangnam Style.

More characters were introduced towards the end of the session with Buzz Lightyear and Spongebob Squarepants turning up to join in. It’s just a shame we didn’t have Cracker there representing the fire service. However, a big thank you to all the kids, the volunteers and everyone else who came along and made it such a good day...

Well where do I begin!

Post by Apprentice CSA: Caitlin Alcock

I recently had the opportunity to complete a job swap as part of our involvement with the Brathay challenge. I was extremely excited and nervous for mine due to sending the request directly myself to someone so important in our organisation. It showed our apprentices great support, as well as myself having an excellent day as I was given a fantastic opportunity where I spent a full day with the Chief Fire Officer for Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, Steve McGuirk. He was due to be on a borough visit in Oldham and kindly invited me along.

We started off at Chadderton Fire Station where we had a very warm welcome off a number of people in the station. We sat and talked as Mr McGuirk introduced me to various Team Leaders and other members of staff. Borough Commander Kev Talbot was good enough to give me a guided tour of the area whilst driving round his borough for the day. While I was there, Kev and the rest of the team at Chadderton station made me feel at home and I really enjoyed the experience. Based on my initial introductions and how welcome I was made to feel, this is clearly somewhere I would want to visit again.

During the morning we went from meeting to meeting where I gained a lot of knowledge of how the fire service works and how much planning goes into to the front line action. My little head was exploding with facts. We had discussions about the work that was going on within the community and how the fire service could become a pivotal part of a wider community.

After an extraordinary Chinese cuisine buffet we then journeyed to the front lines to meet the firefighters. This gave them the opportunity to ask any questions they had around the upcoming changes to the service. There were a lot of questions asked due to the major changes in the organisation brought about by budget cuts. I really enjoyed meeting up with the crews and could see how eager they were to find out what direction the service would be heading.

What a fantastic day it was and I can’t believe how much I learned. To be allowed the chance to work with the chief was brilliant, but don’t worry boss I won’t be replacing you just yet….

Thank you for the opportunity

Apprentice Job Swap

Post by Apprentice CSA: Chris Toon

As part of National Apprenticeship Week, Dan Sims from our Corporate Communications team was good enough to let me shadow him for the day and fulfil part of his role to experience what it was like working within our media team.

Fortunately for me, they are a good team and every one of them was extremely helpful and  friendly when I arrived at GMFRS Headquarters in Swinton that morning. I very quickly got to see the room descend into mayhem when reports came in of a serious incident in Hyde. Every newspaper across Manchester was ringing the main desk to find out information so they could put out a story. There were times where members of the team had a phone in each hand to ensure they dealt with everything ASAP. Despite how busy it became, the team ensured that all information that was released was clear and factual so as not to spread rumours or panic.

I saw quickly how organisations such as the police communicated with the fire service to co-ordinate what information was being released. This allowed them to get a handle on the situation quickly to ensure a swift resolution. I could see this was something that has been tried and tested many times before and clearly, despite only having a small team in for that day, they took it in their stride and handled all eventualities that were thrown their way.

Whilst there, Dan took the time to explain each thing he did so I could take it all in. He let me help put together a small part of the new Media Liaison Officers handbook. We had to get names of contacts from not only every station within Manchester, but also the exact calling code for each engine or support unit dependant on what they were. I quite enjoyed doing this as I got a better understanding of how our units operate and how they communicate with each other during an incident. I also got to find out the role of a Media Liaison Officer and one of the reasons for their importance, to maintain the concentration of the operational crews wherever they are needed instead of being interrupted or distracted by members of the public or the media. I found the day extremely exciting, very educational and another opportunity to show the wide range of services the Fire Service are involved in and the great work they do across Manchester....

The Brathay Challenge has allowed us to explore even more areas of the organisation that we wouldn’t normally get to see. As our initial stage for Brathay has just drawn to a close, we will wait to see who the finalists are when they are released on the 17^th April. Regardless of the outcome, the apprentices wil continue the work we have been doing and we will be continuing to update our readers with our work throughout the rest of the apprenticeship.

Apprentices' community project gives brighter futures

Post by Apprentice CSA Ryan Williams:

We have just last week, handed back our completed community project to the staff and residents over at Stockport Cerebral Palsy Day Centre.

In selecting the community project that we were going to undertake, we wanted to ensure that whatever we did should have the capacity to make a real impact - so after much deliberation we decided on Stockport CP - a care centre for people of all ages who suffer some form of mental disability.

Its premises contain an outdoor area originally intended to be a ‘sensory garden’ - an area in which the service users of the centre can stimulate their senses visually and kinetically and generally enjoy themselves.

Unfortunately, a lack of resources and available staff and a busy schedule of caring for the residents meant that this was never fully realised and was left in a state of disrepair for a number of years. This also left many residents unable to go anywhere near to the gardens due to the lack of wheelchair access.

It occurred to us that we could be of a great deal of service so we drew up a plan of action and began work on the garden on Thursday of last week.

After removing a substantial amount of waste and debris, we started by repairing and renovating whatever features of the garden were still useable so as to keep the budget low.

Strengthening and painting the benches, cleaning and rearranging a selection of stones and salvaging as much timber as possible.  We then used said timber to erect a planter for the staff and members of the organisation the use at a later date for planting flowers of their choosing.

With the soil surrounding the perimeter free of rubble and smoothed over we were able to lay a large patch of turf to accompany the small covering of gravel we had applied to another patch of earth.

After a final, more thorough cleaning of the ground and the three large planters now standing solid, we painted the fences, polished the mirrors and reattached the wind chimes that had been left since we started and placed a variety of bright, colourful decorative items and flowerpots in certain areas across the now spacious, safe and enjoyable space.

Only a week later, it’s the day of the hand over and the staff seem very pleased with the end results - a reaction superseded only by the utter joy of the service users upon seeing the new space that they would now have full use of during their recreation time. The relocation of the day centres rabbit during the project also ended up with us all having a personal introduction to him.

I think I speak for every one of the apprentices when I say that the sense of pride having made such a difference was overwhelming. We have said we may go back once the weather improves to help the residents start planting things in the new flowerbeds. We would just like to wish everyone at Stockport CP a bright future in continuing and further developing the excellent work they do for the community.

Caged soccer unit success in Stockport

Post by Apprentice CSA Peter Ashton:

In this photograph I am in Stockport where we put the community caged soccer unit to great use.

The purpose for the unit is to get kids off the streets, and also for them to make new friends.

The whole day was a success as lots of children came from all over Stockport to join in.

When I first got there and started putting the unit up there was already lots of interest in parents asking were their kids able to join in, also asking the most important question IS IT FREE?  Which to my reply was 'of course it is'.

At first it was hectic with all the kids running everywhere.  Also, as the majority of them didn’t know each other they were scared to even ask for the ball or even get in the cage, which is why I thought I would join in.

As I have come from a footballing background having played all my life I thought I would show them some skills and tricks I had - which went down well in work clothes on grass and mud!!

Our aim as the fire service is to prevent and protect, which still applies even when we are in the cage soccer unit because the kids are still under our care and supervision and their health and wellbeing is our main priority.

I am currently gaining my level 1 FA coaching badge so I can run the soccer unit in the future and think it is a great opportunity for me also for the kids joining in.

Our Conference - Other Apprentices' Futures

Post by Apprentice CSA Chris Toon:

If we were looking for a way of promoting ourselves to fire services, as well the public, I don’t think we could have done much better than our conference this week.

The conference was attended by more than 100 people from different fire and rescue services right across the UK.
They had travelled to Manchester to find out not only what we have been doing, but how GMFRS have set it up so that they may be able to follow in the same footsteps.

Apprentice CSA Chris Toon

To support us with this, we had Linda Stokes from The National Apprenticeship Service who came down to speak about how organisations can be supported to start apprentice schemes of their own.
Julie Benson from Skills for Justice was also in attendance to provide advice and guidance to interested parties.

My role for the day was similar to my job swap that I completed during National Apprenticeship Week.
I was working with the Corporate Communications team to liaise with and interview delegates who had attended the conference. I found this particularly exciting and spent a long time working out who I was going to try and speak to and what it is that I wanted to ask. I had three simple questions for each of them:

•         Why have you attended the apprentice conference in Manchester?
•         What do you think about the approach that Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue have taken towards apprenticeships?
•         Do you think based on the information you have seen today, it would encourage you to start your own apprenticeship scheme?

I spoke to numerous people throughout the day within my role as a reporter, one of which was Tom George, Deputy Head of Community Safety for London Fire Brigade.
We discussed the difficulties services faced with cuts to budgets across the UK and how that may make it hard to bring forward apprenticeships to London Fire Brigade.
However we did discuss that based on our model and potential funding being provided, it may be something to look on in the future for them. He said: “The approach GMFRS has taken is fantastic.”
On the subject of our 12 apprentices, he said: “What Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue has achieved in six months is inspirational, that is where we would aspire to be.”
                                               
We also had a presentation delivered from George Martin. He is the Fire Service National Liaison Officer for the Prince’s Trust. He spoke of how the Prince’s Trust offers support, help and guidance to youngsters and how his ideal vision would be to increase the work they do and provide help in the same manner to more people.
Given my own experience with the Prince’s Trust, I would have to agree. I found the course I had attended provided me with the skills to gain the apprenticeship I have now and the confidence to complete what is asked as part of my job role. My old Prince’s Trust team leader is still often in contact to find out how things are going and offers valuable support which is always greatly appreciated.

I got chance to speak to numerous organisations, although I enjoyed talking to Martin Tait, Group Manager from Tayside Fire & Rescue. He explained: “I am responsible for Prevention, Protection and Response within Dundee City. We’re doing a lot of youth engagement but we haven’t started formally introducing apprenticeships yet. Today so far has certainly captured me and it will be great to see how the rest of the day unfolds.”

Just before he left for the day, I managed to catch up with Peter O’Reilly, Director of Prevention and Protection from Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue, to find out what he feels about the apprentices. It was great to hear from someone so well-known and respected within the organisation what an impact, in his opinion we have made.


Assistant Chief Fire Officer Peter O'Reilly with apprentices Francesca and Greg on their first day six months ago


He said: “It is fantastic to see the achievements that the apprentices have made in a short space of time. The energy and the alternative views they have brought have helped bring a different perspective to our organisation and how we approach Prevention. I can’t wait to see what they do in the next six months.”

With encouragement like that coming from the top, I don’t think it is a surprise that all the apprentices are coming into their own and starting to show the skills we have been developing over the last six months. I have said before that we offer a way of engaging with youngsters that for many years may have been difficult due to social barriers. We are breaking down those barriers and rewriting the book on the most effective methods of Prevention.

You will just have to keep updated with all we are up to for the remaining six months on our blog.

6 Month Presentations.....

Post by Apprentice Community Safety Advisor William Hartley:

Earlier this week, the apprentices had the opportunity to impress our team leaders and managers by deliver a presentation to highlight the skills that we have been learning in the first six months that we have been part of the organisation.

Admittedly, it was extremely nerveracking. I don’t know how, but being faced with 20 people eagerly awaiting hearing what you have been working on seems a lot more terrifying than standing in front of a school with a few hundred students to deliver a safety message.

The day started off with Area Manager Geoff Harris, Head of Protection, introducing himself and explaining that he was extremely keen on seeing what we had been up to, and how we had coped with it so far. He left these thoughts,

“Our 12 Community Safety Advisor apprentices have been with us for 6 months now. I had the pleasure of attending their presentation event last Monday and seeing the work that they’ve been involved in since they joined us. It was great to see how they had all developed in knowledge, experience and confidence with many of them already suggesting different ways of doing things and delivering work on their own. Their enthusiasm was clear and infectious and the energy that they bring to GMFRS is fantastic. Given what I’ve seen I have no doubt that they will go on to achieve much more in the future and their experiences will help us to shape the way that the Service supports young people in the future”.

The day went extremely well and each apprentice was able to deliver fantastic presentation highlighting the support they have received whilst building their skills with the community safety advisors they work with on each borough. We spoke about the apprentices delivering Home Safety Checks to the public, events that they had set up and co-ordinated by themselves and also the Brathay Challenge which they are involved in at the moment.

Clearly this is something we are going to be asked to do again. After the success of the presentations, we as a team feel a lot more confident about standing up in front of the 100-plus strong audience next week at our apprenticeship conference.  The conference has been organised to highlight the benefit of apprentices within the organisation to other fire and rescue services from across the country and now we have shown what we are capable of, I'm looking forward to showing a much wider audience.

Frankie job swaps for the week

Post by Apprentice Community Safety Advisor Francesca Martinelli:

This past week I have been shadowing our Internship Co-ordinator in Human Resources, Gina Marks, finding out more and assisting her in her role.

During my time with Gina I have been given the very important job of helping to organise The Apprentice Conference.

The tasks this included are: typing out all of the name badges, putting the attendees into groups and typing out a register, but I have also been put in charge of ‘The Apprentice Showcase’.

This is where apprentices get an even bigger chance to shine by performing the speeches we have prepared to 90 people!

We all have our own topics that we wish to discuss, providing what the topic is I have now put us each in a suitable order.

The most notable thing was getting a call from Dan Sims in Corporate Communications asking if I could be interviewed by Real Radio North West!

Never one to pass up a publicity opportunity, or indeed disappoint my public, I said yes!  The interview was played on the breakfast show on Real Radio on Thursday, March 14.

I am really enjoying my time in HR and I feel really important making decisions and organising things.  Thank you to Gina for showing me the ropes.

Promoting No Smoking Day

Post by Apprentice Community Safety Advisor Gary Manville:


Today across Greater Manchester different events were being run to promote No Smoking Day.

Over in Bolton, the community fire safety team got involved with the Bolton Stop Smoking service and Bolton One aka ‘The Jason Kenny Centre’. It was the first event I’ve actually been put in charge of running on the day so was feeling a bit anxious this morning before it began.



As we set up myself and two others - apprentice Caitlin Alcock and a Prince’s Trust work experience Brendan Johnson - began to think we’d have a quiet day but surprisingly we were swamped with people asking for fire safety advice and help with quitting smoking. 



The No Smoking Day event offered advice and information

Throughout the day we was giving out advice and filling out Home Safety Check forms. At dinner the fitness team from the gym came over to do blood pressure checks and found fire service staff eating burgers for their lunch. Let’s just say we had a lot of banter with the fitness instructors over the burgers.



After a while the fitness team asked us if we wanted to have our blood pressure checked as not many members of the public wanted to try - we even did a smoker's breath test which is to find out how much your lungs are effected with smoking. I don't smoking which means my lungs were ok.



Gary (left) has his blood pressure checked

All in all was a fun day meeting members of public and working with the partners in the NHS and Bolton One promoting not only No Smoking Day but talking about what we do now in the community to help people.



Bethany is picture perfect in newspaper article

Post by Apprentice Community Safety Advisor Bethany Pearson

I was recently interviewed by a reporter for an article in the Bury Times newspaper and had my picture taken with Katie Swierczynski, the Community Safety Advisor for Bury Borough.

Pictured left to right are Bethany and Katie

During the interview I spoke about what I was doing before the apprenticeship, the types of things we do as apprentices and what I would like to come out with when the scheme is over.

I also spoke about the National Apprenticeship Week that’s coming up and the types of things we are doing leading up to this competition.

Some of the things I talked about in the interview included:

•             Starting an apprentice blog

•             Using social media to promote what we are doing

•             Designing and putting up posters

•             Organising local newspaper, radio and TV coverage

The article was published in the paper on Thursday, February 28 but unfortunately isn't on the website.

Caitlin's first event is a blazing success

Post by Apprentice Community Safety Advisor Caitlin Alcock

I had my first opportunity to organise and run a community event this week.

Yesterday, (March 7) I organized for the Kitchen Fire Safety Unit to give a demonstration to members of the public who visited Wigan town centre for the food and drink festival.

With this already being a public event, we wanted to follow a similar message and highlight the dangers that can be caused by cooking as this is our main cause of house fires in Greater Manchester.

We were supported throughout the day by Green Watch crews from Wigan Fire Station.

Crew Manager Simon Connor kindly went the extra mile by not only providing demonstrations to the public, but also assisting me in running my first event.

Green Watch were fantastic with the public, they allowed the children to board the fire engine and gave them a tour around it several times throughout the day, again explaining and showing the public all the equipment.

Whilst we were there, we provided safety messages around cooking and also used the time to generate some Home Safety Checks with the crews.

The event was a great success and definitely raised a lot of awareness around what we were doing.

The shocked crowd watching the demo

Many people were shocked to see how quickly the fire spread in the Kitchen Fire Safety Unit.

We also made sure to try and reiterate the Service’s ‘ban the pan’ message.

Overall, I think I gained a lot of confidence from running my first event and I’m now thoroughly looking forward to starting on the next one.