Hundreds of South Yorkshire youngsters are being given vital life skills thanks to a unique partnership between the fire service and a Doncaster training provider.

South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue works with Engage Doncaster, an apprenticeships and training agency, to deliver learning sessions to young people who are not currently in education, employment or training.

Sessions are delivered to youngsters aged 14 to 19 around road safety, fire prevention and the consequences of anti-social behaviour and arson.

The aim is to help young people make positive life choices, ultimately giving them the best chance to succeed in their chosen careers.

SYFR Community Safety Team Leader Amanda Thompson, said: “The feedback from both the training provider and the youngsters themselves on the sessions we have delivered has been overwhelmingly positive. Partnerships like this one show how the work of the fire service goes far beyond putting out fires or rescuing people from emergencies.

“We can have a positive impact on our communities in lots of other ways, and by engaging with young people in this way we can improve their life chances as well as building lasting, positive relationships which will hopefully reduce emergency incidents in the future.”

Tillie Silman, a youngster from Engage said; “I really enjoyed it when the fire service came in, it was a very interesting experience. I have learnt a lot about how to deal with certain situations and not to prank call as this could put someone’s life in danger.

“The best part of the course for me was learning about the impact of not wearing a seat belt. It has made me realise the importance of always wearing one even sat in the back of the car. This could cause someone in the front seats serious injuries event if they are wearing seat belts.”