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.

Starting My Journey

Written by Apprentice Amy Lowe

I’m one of 13 new apprentices to start my year long journey as an apprentice with Greater Manchester Fire & Rescue Service and I would like to share with you how my first week went.

I am working as an Emergency Response Hub Assistant Apprentice based at Fire Service Head Quarters in Swinton. My first two days of the apprenticeship were spent alongside the other apprentices.  We had an induction at the Training and Development Centre in Manchester. We had a lot of forms to fill out and various members of GMFRS staff came in to visit us to talk to us about their job role and the departments that they worked within.

We also had our pictures taken and we were featured in the Manchester Evening News.  A picture I took of all of us using a selfie stick was up on the GMFRS website and Social Media - which I am quite pleased with!

On the third day I started my role at Head Quarters and I was shadowing someone in the ER Hub to see what kind of work that is on offer, I found this really interesting.

Day four involved me being given a small task to do by my line manager. I also had a little interview with a Senior Communications Officer from our Corporate Communications team for an article for the Routine Circular – which is an online weekly newsletter for Fire Service Staff and Volunteers.

Friday, March 13, was my fifth day and I was a busy managing a mailbox and I was shown the system to review and book holidays for colleagues.  I enjoy being busy and felt happy to have something to do.

The 'GMFRS' Journey

Written by Business Fire Safety Advisor Laura Broughton

It has been over a year since our journey started as apprentices for Greater Manchester Fire & Rescue Service. So much has changed and each of us have grown so much as individuals. I can proudly say myself and the other apprentices have secured ourselves jobs within the service and have started our dream careers.

 I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the members of Greater Manchester Fire & Rescue Service and The Manchester College staff for the support that they have invested in us for the past 12 months. We really couldn’t have done it without them. Thank you to you, the public, for reading about all our experiences and supporting the apprentices with your positive feedback.

 Writing the blog has been a significant part of my apprenticeship and promoting the fantastic work Greater Manchester Fire & Rescue Service do with young people like me. Behind the scenes, Chris Toon who wrote the blog last year as an apprentice and gained a full time CSA role has been my editor and my helper when I have had a case of writers block. I have also now got the pleasure of telling you that on the 9^th March, 13 young people joined us as the new apprentices of GMFRS.

Last week Chris and I met the new apprentices and introduced them to the work we have completed on the blog alongside staff from the Corporate Communications Department. It was our mission to recruit the new apprentices to take over writing for the apprentice blog with their own new experiences. We had a lot of interest and I’m very excited to read what they have been up to. 

 Ella is one of our new Community Safety Advisor Apprentices that we will be hearing from in the near future, she said;

 'When I joined the Princes Trust team, I never thought I'd end up where I have but it's the best opportunity I've been given. All hard work has paid off and I'm looking forward to starting my apprenticeship as a Community Safety Advisor'

 We will be uploading new stories to the blog on a regular basis, updating you on what the new apprentices have been up to. 

New Year, New Jobs

Since our last post, four of our apprentices have gained full time roles within Greater Manchester Fire & Rescue Service.  Sophie Williams was the first successful apprentice and she is now working as a Community Safety Advisor at Salford & Trafford. Soon after Matt Alsop, Michel Dunn and Tony Maunder received their Community Safety Advisor roles across the different boroughs in Greater Manchester Fire & Rescue Service. They are all incredibly happy and proud of what they have achieved over the last ten months and are settling into to work life in their new roles.

 “The movement from apprentice to a full time CSA with GMFRS is an incredible opportunity and very exciting. The responsibility of the role and working in a new borough is already helping me to develop even more with new experiences every day” - Michel Dunn  

Good luck and fingers crossed for the remaining apprentices, the future is bright.  

Firefighter Experience Day

Last month the apprentices at Greater Manchester Fire & Rescue Service got to experience what it would be like to be a Firefighter for a day.  We all met at the training centre on a Friday morning ready for the day ahead. We were able to have a go at cutting up a car, something which fire fighters do on a weekly basis when dealing with Road Traffic Collisions.

We were able to learn search and rescue techniques that are used by the firefighters when attending an incident. This was made even more realistic by wearing breathing apparatus to get a true understanding of how that feels when it is being worn. Whilst there, we also had a go at abseiling from a building to see how incidents are attended by our Technical Response Unit.