Wythenshawe Community Event

Written by Business Safety Advisor Apprentice Alex Power

On the 9^th April I attended a multi-agency event with the Manchester Prevention team at Wythenshawe Forum. The goal was to promote home safety advice as well as providing the opportunity for the public to arrange home safety checks (HSC’s) with our Prevention team. We had a stall inside the Forum providing leaflets with a variety of advice and information.

The Parade vehicle was also in attendance and attracted many with its eye catching features including the bubbles, smoke and music.

 Cracker also made an appearance and was a huge hit with the children from the local nursery. During the event an opportunity to appear on Wythenshawe FM arose, so Community Safety Advisor Matt Alsop and I had the wonderful time of promoting our fire safety messages on the live show. Overall we were very successful with our aim of providing clear and helpful information as well as generating more Home Safety Check visits.

Water Safety at Debdale Park

Written by Community Safety Advisor Apprentice Adam Jones

Last week on Friday 10^th April as part of a Prevention & Protection team initiative for Water safety Week, I attended a Water Safety Event set up at Debdale Park.

We brought our Parade Vehicle complete with a bubble machine, smoke machine and extremely loud speakers. In addition to this we also brought along our Community Events Vehicle that we used to showcase our Water Safety campaign. Thankfully, the weather was really nice as were the people who came along to the event! There were lots of families and children that attended, and we got a lot of positive responses from members of the public concerning Water Safety.

Our Team Leader and Community Safety Manager from Manchester came down to support the event and even got involved with talking to the children using our firefighter puppet!

We were supported at the event by the crews at the local station at Gorton. It was great to have them there as the public enjoyed seeing the fire fighters and looking round an operational fire engine. Lots of the parents enjoyed getting pictures of the children sat inside it!

Overall it was a great event and one that will be repeated in the future. For more events being done by the Manchester Community Safety Team, follow the Twitter page which we keep updated as often as possible with all of our activities. Follow @mancfireteam or @manchesterfire

                                                                     

My Journey from the Prince's Trust

Written by Community Safety Advisor Apprentice Robert Muir

My name is Robert Muir; I am 18 and I am an Apprentice Community Safety Advisor with Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service. I would like to share with you my journey into the Fire Service.

I joined the fire service through a scheme called the Prince’s Trust. The Prince’s Trust is an employability course that last for 12 weeks. I was a member of Manchester Prince’s Trust Team 30 with Chris and George. They weren’t just team leaders, they were always there to speak to if I needed them or if I needed help. They made the group what it was. They made it a fun and friendly environment and it was by far one of the most influential experiences of my life. Without a doubt it has turned my life around completely. Before Prince’s Trust I was a bit of a recluse, stuck in a rut and going nowhere fast. Thanks to the encouragement from my team leaders and my fellow team members, I was crafted into a strong-willed passionate individual with a clear handle on life.

The best experience is almost too close to call but I would either say our week away on residential or the final presentation. I greatly enjoyed the residential due to the fact it brought me and my teammates closer together. We did so many activities such as zip lining and rowing but I also loved the final presentation. Don’t get me wrong I was still a nervous wreck but I channelled the nervousness and performed the presentation successfully. It was a big deal for me, realising how much I have actually changed, it was incredible. I even had my mum in tears.

Joining the Prince’s Trust was the best decision I ever made. Not only did it aid me in joining the Fire Service but it also crafted friendships. I have met so many amazing people and couldn’t thank them enough. It was an honour to do the course and is an even greater honour to be a member of such a prestigious organisation.

My First Week - Carys

Written by Community Safety Advisor Apprentice Carys Thompson

I’m one of the 13 young new apprentices to start the apprenticeship scheme with Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service.

My name is Carys Thompson and I am with the Salford and Trafford Prevention team and I am based at Eccles Fire Station, my role in this is Community Safety Advisor Apprentice.

Monday, was my first day starting the apprenticeship, I was a little apprehensive as to what the day would be like. The first two days consisted of an induction into what we would be getting involved in for the next 12 months. I was also introduced to my mentor Karen, part of the Corporate Communications  team, and some of the team from HR. It was great to have more of an insight into what the fire service do.

Tuesday was the second day into the induction. I was introduced to The Manchester College, who are carryout the qualification side of things. The apprentices and I also had a photo-shoot to share the news about the fire service employing 13 new young apprentices.  I also had my photo taken for my I.D badge.

Wednesday, is my official college day I will be attending The Training and Development Centre every week to complete the qualification. One of the tutors introduced me to the “ERR” workbook which is some of the work we have to do within the next 8 weeks.

Thursday was my first official day on station; I was nervous to meet my line manager and my team.  When I arrived there I rang the doorbell and Will one of my team members answered the door, he was very nice and asked how I was. I followed Will into the CSA office and was introduced to my line manager Jan and some of my team Tony and Debra. I really like my team and think they all welcomed me with open arms.  In the afternoon I went out with Tony to do some Home Safety Checks, Tony was really nice and answered any questions that I had. He also invited me to his radio show to share my experience as a new apprentice and how my journey started.  

Friday my second day on station, I did some of my ERR booklet for the college. In the afternoon Tony and I went to Salford radio hotspot, beforehand I was a nervous because this was all new to me. Tony introduced me and we talked about my experience with the Prince’s Trust and how I became an apprentice with GMFRS. We also read out some of the incidents that had happened recently.  I thought this was a great new experience for me; I really enjoyed doing this with Tony and even got to pick the songs that were played. Tony has also invited me to appear on this radio later on in the year to see how my apprenticeship is going.

I am really enjoying working with my team at Eccles and look forward to completing this apprenticeship.