Staff members of South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue are celebrating after picking up two awards at the Cutlers’ Company Police and Fire Service annual awards.

The fire service received both the individual and group awards in recognition of exemplary service for the second year running. 

Watch Manager Nicola Hobbs won the individual prize for her involvement and impact on the diverse communities of South Yorkshire, going above and beyond her role. She has been instrumental in supporting the Fire Cadet programme throughout the seven cadet branches in South Yorkshire and has been heavily involved with the Prince’s Trust and the Cutlers Better Learners, Better Workers programme. Nicola donated her £250 cash prize to Sheena Amos Youth Trust.

Community Fire Safety Officers and the High Risk Coordination Team took home the group award for their service to the people of South Yorkshire. The team fits tens of thousands of smoke alarms each year, helping to reduce the number of accidental dwelling fires in the homes of some of the most vulnerable people in society. They donated their £250 cash prize to Barnsley Animal Rescue.

Deputy Chief Fire Officer, Martin Blunden said: “These award wins are a great achievement for the fire service and provide well deserved recognition for the hard and varied work our staff do to keep the public of South Yorkshire safe.” 

The awards, which took place in the Cutlers’ Hall, Sheffield, were presented by the Master Cutler, Richard Edwards.

A number of young people including a dad struggling to find direction in his life and a shy teenager who’s just got a job at a Rotherham care home have all benefited from a police and fire service led youth programme.

South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue (SYFR) and South Yorkshire Police (SYP) teamed up with the Prince’s Trust to deliver the Team Programme two years ago. During that time around 100 young people have benefited from the 12 week personal development course for unemployed 16 – 25 year olds, offering work experience, qualifications, practical skills, community projects and a residential week.

Individuals gained new skills, mixed with new people and made new friends, they were given help with job-hunting and CV writing and most importantly a big boost to their confidence and a real sense of achievement.

Past participants are now championing the programme, encouraging others to take their first step and to sign up for this life changing experience.

Elise Morton, a member of our second Team Programme in Dearne, joined the course in January 2017. Elise has come on a fantastic journey, initially struggling to engage with the team and the staff, but with each week gained more confidence. Since completing the course in May Elise has now gained employment as a care support worker at a care home in Rotherham.

Elise Morton said; “I would recommend this programme to people, it helped me to build my confidence, improve my communication skills and got me into a job that I love. I want to thank the team for all their support.”

Dervla Watson from Dearne Team 2 joined the Team in January 2017, she was at sixth form but felt she was not where she wanted to be, so joined the Team Programme. Dervla is now on a Construction Study Programme based at the Mears Learning Academy in Rotherham.

Dervla Watson said; “The Team programme really helped me, it gave me time to figure out what I wanted to do. It helped me but I also witnessed so many changes with others in my group too. Not only that but having the Prince’s Trust Team programme on my CV got me noticed. I am now looking forward to a career doing a job I really enjoy. I would like to thank the Team leaders and my Team for all their support.”

Connor Simpson also joined the Dearne team in January 2017.  Initially he had no idea what he wanted to do in the future, but with a young family he knew he had to start thinking and planning.  During the Team programme he arranged work experience with Kingswood an outdoor education company and thoroughly enjoyed it. On completion of the programme he attended a taster day with them and has now secured himself an apprenticeship as an Activity Leader.

Connor Simpson said; “I would recommend the programme to anybody who is unsure what they want to do with their life, I would never have seen myself doing the job I do now. The programme offered me these opportunities. I now wake up every morning doing a job I love and look forward to going to work in the morning to see what the day has to offer.  I would like to thank the team for getting me to this point in my life.”

We are now recruiting for the next Team Programme’s based in Barnsley and for the first time in Sheffield, to be part of it and to take that first step contact John Daley on 07769 887249 or princestrust@syfire.gov.uk.

More details can be found on the South Yorkshire Police website here www.southyorks.police.uk/princestrust

Follow updates on Twitter at #PrincesTrust

Youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvSKmcRN_Qc

Firefighters have taken part in a major training exercise in Sheffield to test their rope rescue skills.

South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue worked with Sheffield City Council and BAM Construction Ltd on the live training scenario, which involved a casualty being trapped in the cab of a crane.

The crane based at the construction site in Charter Square which is part of the new Sheffield Retail Quarter was used for the exercise, which took place on the morning of Friday 14 July.

Two fire engines from Dearne and Central stations took part in the training.

The scenario involved a simulated medical emergency with the driver of a tower crane unable to get back down to ground level unaided. The specialist rope rescue teams had to put systems in place to rescue the casualty from the crane so that paramedics could provide medical treatment.

Station Manager Rob Holmes, said: “Our firefighters are ready to respond to a huge number of different incident types, from fires to road traffic collisions. We issue lots of guidance to our crews about the different sorts of scenarios they might come across in the line of duty, but really the best way of preparing our response is to test it out for real.”

Charities and community groups are being invited to bid for the latest round of funding made available by the county’s Fire Authority.

The application process will open on 1 September and close at midday on 29 September for the third round of South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Authority’s Safer Stronger Communities Reserve fund, which aims to support the work of local communities to reduce fires and other emergencies.

The maximum amount of money available for each project is £100,000 and the minimum amount is £5,000. Projects should run for up to two years. More than 40 projects were given grants as part of two previous open bidding processes.

The latest funding will be allocated for projects which meet specific criteria, which include tackling water safety, arson and road traffic collisions. Other key priorities include working with those with mental health issues, people from excluded groups including BAME and faith communities and health and social care issues.

For more information email ttranter@syfire.gov.uk.

SSCR Presentation

Information Pack Round 3

Expression of interest for grant funding

SYFR commitment to equality and inclusion

Previous funding projects

Fakes cause fires presentation

Dementia fire and home safety project presentation

Crisis presentation

We now have the final details for the SSCR drop in day later this month, due to level of interest we have decided to allocate time slots to avoid waiting times. The information session will run from 9:45am with the last slot available being 2pm. We are allocating 20 minutes per slot and these will be allocated on a first come first served basis. If you wish to attend please get in touch and I will advise on the times available.

Details of the day are:

Wednesday 30 August 2017
SYFR Training and Development Centre, Beaver Hill Road, Handsworth, Sheffield, S13 9QA

We will not have copies of information packs available on the day, so please use this link where copies are available SYFR – SSCR Funding

A Sheffield parkrun will now be a much safer place to exercise thanks to the recent donation of an Automated External Defibrillator.

South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue provided the event volunteers at Concord Park in Shiregreen, Sheffield with the life saving equipment, an easy to use medical device for administering lifesaving treatment for sudden cardiac arrest.

The South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Concord parkrun is a 5km run/walk that takes place every Saturday at 9am.  The event is well attended with around 80 -90 people of mixed ability attending every week. The event is totally free and open to all.  For further details visit www.parkrun.org.uk to register.

Station Manager Spencer Rowland has run regularly with the group and recently attended to hand over the defibrillator. Training of the equipment and casualty care has also been delivered to the group.

Station Manager Spencer Rowland said; “We are delighted to be able to provide this equipment to the parkrun. Every second counts when someone has suffered a cardiac arrest, the sooner they can receive emergency care the better their recovery chances are.”

The fire service says it is better placed to respond to flooding in South Yorkshire, as the tenth anniversary of floods which devastated the county in 2007 is marked.

South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue (SYFR) formed a major part of the response to floods which hit the region on 25 June 2007 and damaged nearly 1,500 homes in less than 24 hours. Two people also sadly lost their lives.

Emergency services took more than 4,500 calls and the fire service committed all of its available resources to help those in need. Thirty high-volume pumps from across the UK also came to help the relief effort, pumping away thousands of litres of water in badly hit areas, including Bentley and Toll Bar.

Officers say specialist training, regular exercises and new equipment mean it is better placed to an incident on this scale. Nationally, operational guidance for fire services responding to flooding has also been improved.

SYFR now has motorised water rescue boats and fully trained water rescue teams, ready to respond to water related incidents in the county. It also has its own high-volume pump, which is capable of pumping water at a rate of 8,000 litres per minute.

Head of Emergency Response, Area Manager Tony Carlin said: “I’m sure we all remember only too well the devastation caused by the 2007 floods. South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue committed significant resources at the time and our firefighters provided vital support to local communities. Our crews will never forget the community spirit they witnessed in areas that had been devastated by the flood waters.

“We have enhanced our response capabilities to incidents of this nature since then and have also provided support to other parts of the country affected by flooding, including Somerset, Berkshire and Lancashire.

“Flooding remains a significant risk to South Yorkshire, plus other parts of the country, and those living in risk areas should familiarise themselves with information designed to keep them safe in an emergency.”

For more information on a Government backed flood awareness campaign, visit https://floodsdestroy.campaign.gov.uk/