Tameside College Event

By Apprentice Community Safety Advisor Peter Ashton

On 20^th May 2013 I had the privilege to organise an event for Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service to attend the College for a services day. Attending along with us were the Territorial Army, the North West Ambulance Service, and also Greater Manchester Police.

 The TA brought along with them a 105 field gun paintballing range, a climbing wall as well as various other pieces of army equipment to demonstrate to the public.

The NHS attended with an Ambulance showing people around it, they explained the peices of equipment that they would use on a day to day basis.

The GMP attended with a road car, equipped with a sophisticated Number Plate Recognition System. They also brought a new undercover BMW road response car.

As I was organising for GMFRS to attend, the best thing I could think about doing was basing our day on Road Traffic Collisions. This was because the ages of students from 17 – 25 attending the College fit into the categories where many either drive or may be learning to drive. This fits the age range of young deaths on the road, with either themselves being a victim or potentially being the cause.

At first I originally planned for a crashed car to be there so the Fire Service Crew attending could cut it up and show people a demonstration on how to cut people out of an RTC. Unfortunately, due to insufficient room, I was unable to plan that, therefore I asked the pump would they give people a tour by showing people around it and also explain the equipment they use on a daily basis. We also had a damaged car which was involved in an unfortunate crash involving a young driver. We also brought the small incident unit to explain their roles.

I had a stall inside the College as well promoting what we do as a whole organisation. I was encouraging people to test their smoke alarms weekly if they had one, if they did not, then they could book one or book one for their parents to get a Home Safety Check.

Actors at an earlier road safety demonstration

Due to us being there for road safety I thought it would be appropriate to provide advice and leaflets on road safety to the young people. This was done to help prevent collisions from happening or minimalizing the risk.

I designed a questionnaire to get views from the young people themselves on road safety and also a few questions on being under the influence of alcohol whilst driving. One of the major factors in the questions was asking how many people wore their seatbelts. The results that I collected were outstanding. The amount of young people that admitted being in a car with a friend or driving themselves under the influence of alcohol was phenomenal. We explained that they were at major risk from being in a collision. Due to this, we are currently negotiating with the college about presenting the Drive to Live Campaign within the College. This is a workshop which actors would demonstrate and also act out scenes from a collision, who it affects and also getting the young adults involved.

The whole day was a huge success with visits from Peter O’Reilly and Dave Keelan who were keen to see what was going on. The event has shown and hopefully encouraged the young adults to be more careful and take extra caution whilst driving or being a passenger in a car.

Following Driving Safety will ensure your Driving Safely!!

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...