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.