Adwick fire station is to play host to a series of Stop Smoking Services to help Doncaster residents quit the habit.

South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue (SYFR) is working in partnership with South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Trust, to provide a meeting group once a week at Adwick station to help support residents who feel that the time has come to take that step to a healthier lifestyle.

The Stop Smoking sessions offer a wide range of support which is able to aid all sorts of smokers, even those who have been smoking for long periods of time and may think that they wouldn’t be able to give up. Smokers who seek help have a much greater chance of success than those who do not.

The sessions. take place every Tuesday evening from 5:30pm to 8pm. If you would like to attend the next Stop Smoking group at Adwick fire station, please call 0800 612 0011 (free on landline) or 0330 660 1166 (free on mobile).

Steve Helps, Head of Prevention and Protection at SYFR said; “Smoking is the biggest cause of preventable disease and premature deaths in the UK. It is also a major cause of accidental death, injury and property damage from house fires attributed to smoking in the UK every year. This initiative is a positive step towards keeping the people of South Yorkshire healthier and safer in their own homes.”

Mark Falcomer at South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust said; “Yorkshire Smokefree provides expert NHS advice and support for anyone who wants to stop smoking. So when you’re ready to quit, we’re ready to help. Our friendly experts will help you find the best way to quit and provide support throughout your journey, so you’re smoke-free in no time.

“We offer a range of resources to suit your needs and ensure you’re smoke-free as soon as possible.

“You are five times more likely to quit smoking with products and support which are available for free with Yorkshire Smokefree Doncaster. Products include patches, gum, lozenges inhalator, mouth spray and champix.”

SYFR is one of the signatories of the Yorkshire and Humber Emergency Services Prevention and Early Intervention Consensus Statement, which has been co-ordinated by Public Health England.

With demand for health and social care rising, the main focus of the agreement is for emergency services to use their joint intelligence, skills and resources to support communities with ill-health prevention and early intervention where problems are identified.

This includes greater sharing and development of referral pathways into key services such as falls prevention and support for mental health, alcohol and drug problems, advice to keep homes warm and social support to combat loneliness and isolation.

South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue (SYFR) has teamed up with NHS Blood and Transplant to provide venues for local communities to attend blood donation sessions.

The first session took place at Doncaster fire station last week which proved to be a popular venue for the lifesaving sessions.

The fire station’s appliance bay was temporarily adapted while the sessions took place, with health screening areas and a number of beds in place so that NHS Blood and Transplant staff could welcome donors and perform blood donation procedures. The fire engines were parked on a different part of the site during the session but the crew was still available to attend incidents as usual.

Station Manager Claire Duke, who has been working on this project, said: “We hope that the sessions at Doncaster station will be the first of many we can provide for the NHS Blood and Transplant who are always on the lookout for new venues across the county. We are already planning more sessions at other fire stations in South Yorkshire in the near future.”

Chief Nurse and Assistant Director of Blood Donation Jane Green emphasised the value of the project: “We are extremely grateful to South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue for allowing us to use their Fire Stations for blood donation sessions free of charge. This initiative goes a long way to reduce our venue hire cost which in turn means that we can continue providing blood products to hospitals at sustainable cost. Fire Stations are also at the heart of the communities and easily accessible for our donors which enhances their donation experience.”

A number of future sessions are planned at Doncaster fire station on:

17 April 2018
10 July 2018
03 August 2018

All will run from 11am – 7:30pm

If you are interested in attending one of these sessions please register and book your appointment by visiting www.blood.co.uk website or alternatively call 0300 123 2323.

Firefighters across South Yorkshire will be washing cars throughout March as part of a national charity event.

The event is aimed at raising money for The Fire Fighter’s Charity, which supports injured firefighters and their families.

As well as washing cars, firefighters will also be on hand to offer road and fire safety advice.

A number of South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue’s fire stations are taking part in the annual event as listed below:

• Lowedges station – Saturday 24 March 10am-1pm (Lowedges Road, Sheffield, S8 7JN)
• Adwick station – Saturday 24 March 2pm-6pm (Quarry Lane, Woodlands, Doncaster, DN6 7RT)
• Tankersley station – Saturday 24 March 10am onwards (Maple Road, Wentworth Industrial Estate, Barnsley, S75 3DL)
• Penistone station – Saturday 24 March 10am onwards (Sheffield Road, Penistone, Barnsley, S36 6HN)
• Rivelin station – Saturday 31 March 12 – 5pm (Rivelin Valley Road, Sheffield, S6 5FE)
• Aston station – Saturday 31 March 10am onwards (Worksop Road, Aston, Rotherham, S26 2FZ)
• Dearne station – Saturday 31 March 12pm onwards (Manvers Way, Rotherham, S63 5DN)
• Rotherham station – Saturday 31 March 10am – 4pm (Fitzwilliam Road, Eastwood, Rotherham, S65 1ST)

Dearne fire station had a very special visit last week when His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales met with young people on the Prince’s Trust Team Programme.

As part of the visit, His Royal Highness, President of the Prince’s Trust met with young people, took part in a discussion group with former course members and witnessed a role play scenario carried out by Team members with the help of fire station staff.

South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue (SYFR) and South Yorkshire Police (SYP) teamed up to deliver the Prince’s Trust Team Programme. It is a 12 week personal development course for unemployed 16 – 25 year olds, offering work experience, qualifications, practical skills, community projects and a residential week.

The event was also attended by local dignitaries and friends and family of the young people.

SYFR Station Manager Spencer Rowland said; “It was a great honour to welcome The Prince of Wales to Dearne fire station and to be given the chance for the young people to demonstrate how far they have come on the Team Programme. It will be a day the young people cherish for the rest of their lives.”

Would you like to be part of the next Team Programme?  We are recruiting for the members of the Rotherham Barnsley and Sheffield programmes, to be part of the Team or for further details contact John Daley on 07769 887249 or princestrust@syfire.gov.uk.

A group of young people in Rotherham have taken part in a ‘passing out’ event, after completing a five day course aimed at reducing anti-social behaviour in the city.

The event took place last week at Rotherham fire station and saw the young people carrying out a display in the station drill yard to start off the presentation.

The group of nine, aged 13-16, took part in the Achieving Respect and Confidence (ARC) project, a joint initiative between South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue, South Yorkshire Police and other partner agencies.

The course, which mixes practical training with some classroom-based learning, is aimed at young people who have offended, are at risk of offending or have been victims of crime.

The project aims to highlight the consequences of antisocial behaviour and to improve self-discipline, team spirit, fire safety awareness, life skills and values which will improve the life chances of the young people involved.

South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue’s Simon Brookes, Community Safety Watch Manager said:  “The course helps the young people not just in terms of teaching them firefighting skills and techniques, but also by showing them the value of things like teamwork, discipline and communication.

“We encourage them to think about their behaviour and to make positive choices towards improving their life chances.”

Fire fighters have rescued old supplies to provide fun for animals at the award-winning Yorkshire Wildlife Park.

Hoses, ropes and equipment that were broken or out of date have been ingeniously recycled to create a range of stimulating toys for the animal enclosures.

They have been turned into balls, swings, huts and more to help enrich the animals’ time at the 100-acre innovative park at Branton, near Doncaster.

“The animals will get a lot of enjoyment from the generosity of the Fire Brigade,” said the park’s deputy animal manager Rick Newton.

“We have made our Rhinos a Fire Hose Ball to play with out of the hoses given to us. They are having a great time running around playing with it”

The fire fighters from South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue’s Rossington station were invited to the park to see how their old specialized equipment has been put to use.

“The staff at the park do a fantastic job and we were only too pleased to help out by donating the old hoses, ropes and other equipment for the animals to play with or for their enclosures,” said station manager Shayne Tottie.

“The equipment donated is all stock which is either old, broken or out of date which we are no longer able to use and would otherwise have been thrown away, so when the Park approached us for our help we gladly offered to recycle the equipment.

“The fire crew had a lovely time being shown around the park and meeting all the amazing staff and animals who will hopefully benefit from the equipment.“

The park is home to the Black Rhinos Hodan and Dayo who reside on YWP’s newly extended African Plains and the country’s only polar bears at Project Polar, a ten-acre reserve with caves, natural pools and rolling terrain.

YWP, the no1 walk-through wildlife attraction in the UK, offers families an entertaining, fun filled and educational day out.

Visitors come almost face to face with some of the world’s rarest and beautiful species, including Amur Leopards and Tigers, Lions, Painted Hunting Dogs,
Giant Otters, Guinea Baboons, Meerkats, and many more.

A team of young people taking part in a major local youth development programme have unveiled their hard work and transformation of a community garden.

The group, who are taking part in the Prince’s Trust Team Programme spent a week designing and creating the garden at the Athersley North Community Shop, a hub for local people on low incomes to meet socially and take part in workshops and training classes.

The Prince’s Trust Team Programme is being delivered by South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue and South Yorkshire Police from Barnsley fire station. Team Programme is a 12 week course for unemployed 16 to 25 year olds, offering work experience, qualifications, practical training and a residential development week.

The programme encourages the young people to nominate their own community project, with those on the current scheme choosing to transform this community garden for the local people.  A new footpath and patio area have been created, along with new plants and shrubs and the team even produced handmade garden furniture.

The group were able to fund the transformation after raising cash from a car wash and sponsored walk the week before.

South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Team Leader Rhian Oxley said: “Team Programme is about more than simply boosting young people’s employment skills. It gives them hope, confidence and the opportunity to make a difference.

“The community project the young people have been involved in is the perfect proof of what they can achieve and the self-belief which they can transfer to their future lives.”

Young people who have spent three months gaining new and exciting valuable work experience were awarded for their efforts last night.

These former Prince’s Trust team members were presented with two awards at the Leeds Grand Theatre as they were recognised for both their individual and team projects.

John Daley, from South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue, who runs the programme and attended the awards with the recruits, said he was incredibly proud that their work had been recognised at a regional level.

“It was a fantastic evening which was enjoyed by all and I’m thrilled that the recruits from the programme were awarded for all of their hard work over a 12 week period,” he said.

The programme is delivered by South Yorkshire Police and South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue and involves 16-25-year-olds taking part in everything from team building exercises to community based projects.

The first award winner of the night was Tara Nortcliffe, who was awarded the Prince’s Trust Rising Star.

John said: “Tara beat off competition from around the region and was recognised for overcoming many obstacles in her life and is now embarking on a new chapter thanks to the support of the team leaders of the programme, Rhian Oxley and Paul Newman MBE.”

The second award went to the Dearne Team, who were recognised for their work during a community project at Manvers Lake.

John said: “Dearne Team 2 overcame the weather during storm Doris in one of the largest projects we have undertaken to date.

“The Friends of Manvers Lake now continue the hard work the team began and I’m incredibly pleased they were presented with an award.

“The Princes Trust is a really exciting programme to be a part of and offers fantastic learning and development opportunities.

“I’d like to say a massive well done to the award winners and to everyone involved in the programme so far, they have all done really well.”

To be part of the next Team Programme please contact John Daley on 07769 887249 or princestrust@syfire.gov.uk