The fire service was one of three Sheffield organisations to be recognised as being among the country’s leading employers for their support of the Reserve Forces, having been honoured at a special awards ceremony last week as part of the government’s Employer Recognition Scheme.
Receiving a certificate signed by the Secretary of State for Defence and the Chief of the Defence Staff, Sheffield City Council, South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue and Chesterfield Special Cylinders received the Silver Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) award. The three organisations were among only 14 from across the Yorkshire region, out of 500 candidates, which have been successful in winning the award.
SYFR Area Manager Steve Helps, said: “Reservists are an integral part of the UK Armed Forces and are trained to a high standard. It’s right that as an organisation we support reservists with their training and deployment and it’s pleasing that we have been picked out in our region as leading the way in this respect.”
The launch of the Employer Recognition Scheme was a commitment made in the July 2013 White Paper entitled ‘Reserves in the Future Force 2020: Valuable and Valued’, and takes into account the views of a wide range of companies and industry bodies who championed the value in publicly recognising employers supportive to Reservists.
Reservists in the Yorkshire and Humber areas serve in the Royal Naval Reserve, the Royal Marines, the Army Reserve and the Royal Auxiliary Air Force and can be mobilised wherever needed to work alongside Britain’s regular Armed Forces. Reservists are an integral part of the UK Armed Forces and are trained to a high standard.