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.
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| Apprentice CSA Chris Toon |
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.
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| 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.
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