Lewis’s Story

Written by Lewis Welsby, Business Safety Advisor Apprentice

Before starting as an Apprentice Business Safety Advisor at Stretford Fire Station, I was a volunteer in Salford and Trafford. I first became involved with GMFRS when a family friend who is a retired fire fighter told me about the apprenticeship scheme. When I looked further into this, I came across the volunteering opportunities and took this up whilst looking for further prospects within the brigade.

The biggest highlight for me as an apprentice so far has been being able to take on my own projects and go out working alone. This has showed me that I am trusted by my managers and colleagues to go and work by myself in the public eye, which has given me a massive confidence boost.

So far, the biggest benefit of working with Greater Manchester Fire & Rescue Service is being able to meet and work with other people who have similar interests as me. When volunteering, everyone had a keen interest in the fire service, and as an apprentice I’ve had the opportunity to meet people within the service who are rich in knowledge and experience and have shared their stories with me.

Having had a big interest in the fire service since I was a young child, I’m very excited and proud to be working for GMFRS. I’d love to be able to continue this experience at the end of the apprenticeship within the Fire Safety department. Having met and worked with other colleagues in the service, I would now work in any department whether it is in a uniformed or non-uniformed role if given the opportunity.

Educating the Community at Sure Start

Written by Community Safety Advisor Apprentice Mike Dunn

Sam Blackburn and I have been getting out into the community across Manchester recently on a variety of different occasions. We both recently attended a Sure Start children’s centre in Rusholme to talk the new parents group during their introduction to the centre session.

The aim of the session was to give out home safety advice to the parents who were all scattered around a play room. We did this by talking to them and giving out information booklets on fire safety in the home, with the key message aimed at kitchen safety.

Every conversation started by introducing ourselves and asking if they had smoke alarms at home. If they didn’t, we advised they have a home safety check by signing a request form. We were also able to give out stickers and fluffy fire service bobble heads to keep the children happy and amused.

By the end of the session we had managed to collect a total of 22 Home safety check requests out of around thirty adults, which we felt was a really good success as there were clearly many parents without smoke alarms to protect them and their children. We completed several of them ourselves and sent the rest to our contact centre to have the visits arranged for convenient times.