South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue is engaging with young people and helping to reduce crime and antisocial behaviour in your community. Here are some of the programmes and initiatives happening across the county.

LIFE (Local Intervention Fire Education)

The hugely successful LIFE initiative is a five-day course for young people who have fallen foul of the law or are involved in antisocial behaviour, bullying or truancy. It has already turned around the lives of many young people across South Yorkshire and won sponsorship from several local agencies. Candidates are put forward by local schools or Youth Offending Teams, before joining the course at their local fire station. The youngsters are taught basic firefighting techniques and other skills by trained firefighters, in a bid to improve their discipline, attitude and behaviour.

ASDAN (Award Scheme Development Accreditation Network)

The course is set up for children aged 13-18 who, in the school's opinion, would benefit from working in a structured environment with operational firefighters as positive role models. The course is open to children from all backgrounds and areas within the community and should be offered to troublesome individuals and well behaved members of the community.

During the course the children are taught how to run out fire hoses, climb ladders, wear breathing apparatus, carry out basic first aid and rescue trapped people from car crashes. It is a practical hands-on course where all individuals get the opportunity to carry out all of the tasks mentioned and demonstrate how much they have learned to their families at the end of the Course Pass Out Demonstration.