Beyond Cover

Beyond Cover 

Issue 20 Dec 2015 

News from Cornwall, Fire Rescue and Community Safety Service 

A service of Cornwall Council 

Medal Ceremony 2015 

Bringing smiles 

to the children 

of Belarus 

Q&A 

for Firefighters 

Pension Scheme 

Texas Re-Visited 

Learning from our 

US Colleagues

Contents 

Introduction by Paul Walker, 3 

Chief Fire Officer 

Cornwall Fire , Rescue and Community Safety Service 

Headquarters opening 4 

Operational Assessment 2016 5 

Medal Ceremony 6-7 

Beyond Excellence 8 

Staff Survey update 9 

Integrated risk management plan consultation 10 

Cornwall Fire, Rescue and Community Safety launch 

drug driving awareness campaign 11 

Year’s trial of a partnership with Adult Learning 12 

Critical Control Centre (Fire Control) 12 

Penpol and Point Women’s Institute motorist want 

to drive safer for longer 13 

Flood Ready Event 13 

Texas Re-visited Learning from our 

US colleagues 14-17 

Community Safety Partnership ethnic food 

establishments training days 18 

Four Learn2Live events target young driver 

casualties in Cornwall 19 

Tri Service Safety Officer Role - Andy Hitchens 20-21 

Exercise Fowey 22 

Hayle Emergency Services Community Station’s 1st 

Open Day 22 

Chip pan demo for Falmouth students 23 

Operational guidance breathing apparatus 2014 23 

Bringing smiles and laughter to the children 

of Belarus 24-25 

Q&A for Firefighters Pension Scheme members 26-27 

Falmouth Goes off with Bang! Fireworks Event 28 

Partnership Working Looe Music Festival 29 

Liskeard and Bodmin crews involved in Line 

Rescue Exercise on the Liskeard Viaduct 30-31 

Joint working with Environment Agency 

to reduce fire risk 32 

Initial Police Learning Development Training 33 

Normandy Cycle Trip 34 

Fundraising to Lifesavers 34 

Wadebridge Fire Station annual 6 a side cricket 

competition in aid of The Fire Fighters Charity 34 

Launceston Firefighters Charity Car Wash 35 

Cornwall Fire Service takes on London in the UK cup 

prelim round 35 

IT Training Opportunities 36 

Apprenticeship Awards 2015 36 

St Just boy praised for quick-thinking which 

helped to save father’s life 37 

Letters of Appreciations 38-39 

Key objectives key to explain what we are achieving within each article 

Our key objectives ensure that we deliver the best 

and most effective service possible for the people 

of Cornwall. After each article look for the icons that 

show what objectives we are reaching. 

1. Prevent 

We will deliver targeted activity to the people 

and communities most at risk. 

2. Respond 

We will plan and prepare for emergencies to 

ensure we deliver an effective and efficient 

response. 

3. Protect 

We will engage with and influence responsible 

people to reduce the economic impact of 

emergencies. 

4. Innovate 

We will ensure that we have effective and 

efficient ways of working to enable us to 

prepare for the future. 

5. Perform 

We will continue to improve and be recognised 

as a high performing organisation. 

2 Beyond Cover December 2015

Introduction 

W 

elcome to our Christmas edition 

of Beyond Cover which again 

reflects our focus on community 

engagement, as well as the complex wide 

ranging activities and projects that we 

continue to deliver across Cornwall with 

positive outcomes for those accessing 

our services. I am exceptionally proud 

and grateful for your professionalism and 

dedication in delivering these services and 

projects that make such a difference to 

residents, businesses and visitors to Cornwall. 

The end of the year has again proved 

busy with the occupation and then formal 

opening of our new Service Headquarters 

in Tolvaddon by HRH Duke of Kent. The 

Camborne, Pool, Redruth and Hayle project 

and Tri-Service Officer role pilot have been 

nominated and shortlisted for the Excellence 

in Fire and Emergency Services Awards. 

Over the last few months we have seen Area 

Manager Mike Roach and Nigel Vincent 

and Station Manager Mike Male retire from 

the service taking in excess of 100 years of 

operational and managerial experience in 

Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service with them. 

Firefighter Dave Broad from Delabole also 

retired after 40 years’ Service and Emma Childs, 

Performance and Systems Manager has left the 

Service for a new role in the Council’s Public 

Protection and Business Support Team. I am 

sure you will join me in wishing them a long, 

safe, healthy and happy retirement as they 

make a new start following careers spanning 3 

or 4 decades within the service. 

We have all been saddened by the news that 

Nelson, our Fire Investigation Dog, passed 

away at the end of November after a short 

illness. Nelson was an extremely valuable 

and popular member of Cornwall Fire and 

Rescue Service, his ability and skills were both 

incredible to watch and have led to successful 

investigations of very complex incidents. His 

role beyond fire investigation in engaging 

people young and old has helped to spread 

the safety message and Nelson will be sadly 

missed. 

We continue to face challenging times but 

also opportunities through the “Cornwall 

Deal” which was formally agreed earlier this 

year. With more freedom and flexibilities 

concerning public sector estates; a 

clear mandate for health and social care 

integration, better business support and 

closer collaborative working with our 999 

colleagues we can continue to develop 

our activities to support the wider social 

welfare and community safety agenda 

here in Cornwall. Early indications from our 

Integrated Risk Management Plan (IRMP) and 

Safer Cornwall Partnership Plan consultation 

processes is that respondents favour a joined 

up approach, with more flexibility to ensure 

services are maintained, developed and 

improved where possible. 

As we move into 2016 I remind you all of 

the words of Peter Drucker (the founder 

of modern management) who said “ The 

best way to predict the future is to create it” 

which encourages an openness to change, 

to explore new ways of working and above 

all to shape and design what the future looks 

like. Together we can continue to develop 

a sustainable, affordable wide reaching 

service that finds the right balance between 

staff needs, organisational needs and more 

importantly the needs of the communities 

that we serve. 

May I take this opportunity to once 

again thank all staff for their flexibility, 

professionalism and dedication as well as 

wish you, your families and friends a safe and 

enjoyable festive season. 

Paul Walker 

Chief Fire Officer and Head of Cornwall Fire, 

Rescue and Community Safety Service 

The best 

way to predict 

the future is to 

create it 

Beyond Cover December 2015 3

Cornwall Fire, Rescue and 

Community Safety Service 

Headquarters Opening 

As 

T 

I enter my third year 

he 22 September was an 

as Cabinet Member for 

exciting day for the service 

Communities which 

as HRH the Duke of Kent 

includes responsibility for Fire, 

official opened the new service 

Rescue and Community Safety 

headquarters. HRH the Duke of 

I remain immensely proud and 

Kent also presented the Long 

impressed by the dedication and 

Service and Good Conduct Medals 

commitment of all staff to deliver 

and was joined by CFO Paul Walker, 

a high quality and efficient service 

George Eustace, MP for Camborne, 

to the community of Cornwall. 

Redruth and Hayle and Councillor 

We 

Geoff 

are facing 

Brown, 

very challenging 

Cornwall 

financial 

Council 

times which require us to be flexible and 

ingenious portfolio in the holder way we for deliver Communities 

services. 

During and the Chairman past months of the Cornwall Cabinet Council has 

worked Ann hard Kerridge. to achieve Staff a four from year across financial 

plan which aims to meet the challenge of 

the Service were joined by service 

cuts to local government funding whilst 

providing partners, vital local frontline councillors services and and the 

friends of families of those who had 

received awards. 

HRH the Duke of Kent was given 

a tour of the new building and its 

facilities and was introduced to 

those involved in the design and 

building of the new site. This was 

followed by a multi-emergency 

service display and the unveiling 

of Cornwall Fire, Rescue and 

Community Safety Headquarters 

plaque. Nicholas Marden HRH’s 

Assistant Private Secretary said “both 

he and HRH were really impressed 

with the Headquarters and the 

display and how well everything was 

arranged”. Thank you once again to 

all those that helped make this day 

so special, both on the day and in 

the preparation behind the scenes. 

Simon Mould 

Assistant Chief Officer 


Operational Assessment 2016 

Overview: 

As a public sector organisation, our service 

under goes a number of external and sector led 

assessments to ensure the delivery of efficient 

and effective services. The next Operational 

Assessment (OpA) will be taking place in June 

2016. The OpA is a framework developed by the 

Local Government Association (LGA) operating 

in partnership with the Chief Fire Officers 

Association (CFOA). This process involves 

developing a self-assessment and facilitating 

an on-site Peer Assessment. This is designed 

to form a structured and consistent basis to 

drive continuous improvement within the 

service, and contribute to the LGA’s approach 

to self-regulation and improvement, which 

aims to help councils and Fire and Rescue 

Authorities strengthen local accountability 

and revolutionise the way they evaluate and 

improve services. 

The Peer Review involves the production of a 

self-assessment and associated evidence which 

focusses around seven Key Areas of Assessment 

(KAA). The peer team will review our documents 

against the KAA’s, exploring these further through 

interviews and focus groups on their site visit and 

then provide feedback. A new framework has 

been introduced with some minor alterations 

between the old and new framework. 

The Old and the New KAA 

Old Key Areas of Assessment 

1. Community Risk Management – 

How well is the authority identifying 

and prioritising the risks faced by the 

community? 

2. Prevention – How well is the 

authority delivering its community 

safety strategy? 

3. Protection – How well is the 

authority delivering its regulatory fire 

safety strategy? 

4. Response – How well is the 

authority delivering its response 

activities? 

5. Health and Safety – How well is the 

authority ensuring its responsibilities 

for health, safety and welfare are met? 

6. Training and Development – 

How well is the authority ensuring 

its responsibilities for training, 

development and assessment of its 

staff are met? 

7. Call Management and Incident 

Support – How well is the authority 

delivering its call management and 

incident support activities? 

New Framework and Key Areas of 

Assessment 

1. Community risk management 

– How well does the authority 

understand the local context and 

identify, plan for and prioritise the 

risks faced by the community? 

2. Prevention – How well is the 

authority delivering its prevention 

strategy? 

3. Protection – How well is the 

authority delivering its regulatory fire 

safety duties? 

4. Preparedness – How well is 

the authority ensuring that its 

responsibilities for planning and 

preparing are met? 

5. Response – How well is the 

authority delivering its response, call 

management and incident 

6. Health, safety and welfare – How 

well is the authority ensuring its 

responsibilities for health, safety and 

welfare are met? 

7. Training and development – 

How well is the authority ensuring 

its responsibilities for training, 

development and assessment of its 

staff are met? 

Key changes: 

Section 4 is now focussed on Preparedness and asks; 

“How well is the Authority meeting its responsibilities 

for planning and preparing for incidents that 

could have a significant local or national impact on 

communities?” 

The main difference is the focus on mutual aid and 

national resilience, with detail around our national 

assets, community resilience and JESIP work. 

Section 5 – Response, now includes a section on 

Mobilising and Incident support which is no longer a 

section on its own. 

In addition to the key areas there is also now an 

increased focus on leadership, governance, corporate 

capacity, financial planning, and how the FRA 

delivers outcomes for the communities it serves, 

because these are key factors in performance and 

improvement. These six key themes have been given 

additional prominence in the toolkit and will be areas of 

focus for the review team alongside the operational Key 

Assessment Areas. 

Moving forward: 

A lead from SLT will be assigned to each key area and is 

responsible for providing evidence against the criteria. We 

will be running workshops with staff across the service 

to collect evidence, including case studies, which will be 

used to demonstrate the work we do against the criteria. 

Elected Members will be involved with the development 

of the self-assessment and will be interviewed as part of 

the on-site visit along with our staff and partners. 

If you would like any further information regarding the 

forthcoming Operational Assessment please contact 

Vicky Wallens-Hancock 01872 322967. 

Vicky Wallens-Hancock 

Integrated Risk Management Plan Manager and Kathryn Billing 


Medal Ceremony 

2015 

Long Service and Good Conduct recipients with CFO Paul 

Walker - minus CM Rob Martin who had to rush off to prepare 

for the Extrication Team display! 

The 2015 Cornwall Fire & Rescue Service 

annual awards ceremony took place on 

22 September 2015 at the new Service 

Headquarters at Tolvaddon, Camborne. This year 

the awards event was planned to coincide with the 

official opening of Service Headquarters by HRH 

the Duke of Kent, which provided a wonderful 

opportunity for Long Service and Good Conduct 

recipients to receive their medals from a member 

of the Royal Family. 

The ceremony commenced at 1315 hrs and was attended by 

nearly 60 people, with award recipients, their families, guests of 

honour and invited guests being warmly welcomed to the event 

by Master of Ceremonies Group Manager Dave Carlisle. 

The ceremony is first and foremost a celebration and recognition 

of the achievements of those receiving awards – although a 

formal event, award recipient supporters are encouraged to show 

their appreciation when their loved ones receive their award – and 

did so with great enthusiasm! 

The first awards to be presented were the 20 year Fire Brigades 

Long Service and Good Conduct medals. 

This medal is awarded by Her Majesty the Queen, to honour those 

who have rendered long and meritorious service, as members of 

Fire Services in the United Kingdom. The qualifying period for the 

Crew Manager Andy Smith receives his Long Service and 

Good Conduct medal from HRH the Duke of Kent 

award of the medal is a minimum of 20 years 

whole time or on-call service. 

Normally on such occasions the medals 

are presented at the ceremony by the 

Queen’s representative the Lord Lieutenant 

of Cornwall, Colonel Edward Bolitho OBE, 

but due to the unique circumstances this 

year it was possible for HRH the Duke of 

Kent to award the medals during the official 

opening event to take place later in the 

day, with recipients receiving a framed 

Certificate from the Chief Fire Officer (CFO) 

Paul Walker during the awards ceremony, in 

recognition of their service. 


Fire Brigades Long Service and Good 

Conduct Medals were awarded to: Firefighter 

Gareth Clark, Crew Manager Robert Martin, 

Watch Manager Des O’Connell, Station 

Manager John Smeaden, Crew Manager 

Andrew Smith, Station Manager Sean Taylor 

and Watch Manager Matt Wonnacott. 

The following service personnel were also 

awarded Long Service and Good Conduct 

medals but were unable to attend the 

ceremony: 

Firefighters Kim Brown, Max Bygrave, 

Mark Goodfellow, Wynroe Heath, Stephen 

Trevorrow, Darron Vodden, Mark Richards 

and Graham Wyatt. Crew Managers Simon 

Lawrence and Philip Brown. Watch Managers 

Grant Nicholls and David Hollyoak and 

Watch Manager Fire Control Helen Knight. 

Next to be awarded were the Chief Fire 

Officers Awards, commencing with the Chief 

Fire Officers Certificates of Appreciation. 

This year there were three Certificates of 

Appreciation awarded. 

Certificates of Appreciation 

The first two Certificates of Appreciation 

were awarded to two personnel from St 

Keverne Community Fire Station, Station 

Manager Paul Stephens and Firefighter 

Trevor Clark, for their professional and 

selfless actions when responding to a Coresponder 

medical emergency involving a 

seriously injured person. 

The third and final Certificate of Appreciation 

was awarded to Crew Manager Fire Control Michelle Gibbons in 

recognition of her actions when answering an emergency call 

from a family who were trapped in their property by a serious fire. 

Michelle remained on the line providing reassurance and ongoing 

fire survival guidance to the trapped occupant’s right up to the 

time of rescue by responding fire crews. 

Chief Fire Officers Cup for Community Safety 

Crew manager Fire 

Control Michelle Gibbons 

receiving her award from 

CFO Paul Walker 

The final award to be presented was the Chief Fire Officers Cup for 

Community Safety. This cup is awarded annually by the Chief Fire 

Officer and recognises outstanding work that a team or individual 

has carried out in serving the public. 

CFO Paul Walker presented the Cup to the Princes Trust Team 

Programme Team for their outstanding work in delivering the 

Princes Trust 12 week Team Programme, which is designed to 

work with young people who are not in employment, education 

or training. The course aims to increase individuals’ confidence, 

motivation and employment skills enabling them to progress on 

to employment, education, training and volunteering. Cornwall 

Fire, Rescue and Community Safety Service runs the programme 

with support from the Phoenix Team and in partnership with Adult 

Education. The Cup was received by Princes Trust Team Leaders 

Andrew House and Sam Spooner. 

Firefighter Clark accepted his award from 

CFO Paul Walker, also accepting Station 

Manager Stephens’s award due to previous 

commitments preventing his attendance. 

Princes Trust Team 

Leaders Andrew House 

and Sam Spooner with 

CFO Paul Walker and 

George Martin, the Fire 

and Rescue National 

Liaison Officer for the 

Princes Trust 

Firefighter Trevor Clark receives his award from 

CFO Paul walker 

George Martin, the Fire and Rescue National Liaison Officer for the 

Princes Trust also attended the ceremony and spoke in appreciation 

of the hardworking teams and the support the Princes Trust 

receives from Fire and Rescue Services nationwide. 

CM Dave Allen 

Risk and Review SHQ 


Beyond 

Excellence 

Since gaining the excellent level of the Fire 

Rescue Service Equality Framework (FRSEF) 

what’s happened? Also more importantly what 

does it mean? 

The week following the assessment I was invited to be part of a team 

which Peer Reviewed Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service, it 

was here I began to realise the magnitude of what we have achieved 

as a service. 

It probably took me a month of being out of the service and 

networked beyond networking belief, before I finally had the 

moment of realisation, that this is far bigger than just Cornwall Fire, 

Rescue and Community Safety Service gaining excellence. 

I attended an Equality and Inclusion Event in July, hosted by East 

Sussex and Hampshire. Daryl Oprey Chief Fire Officers Association 

(CFOA) lead for equality and inclusion, (Daryl led our Peer 

Assessment) placed the names of the 11 excellent services up onto 

his presentation; he announced Cornwall are the newest service to 

be awarded excellence. He then went on to add, “Including their 

mock assessment Cornwall has undertaken three assessments 

against the FRSEF in the last four years, and are the first service to 

be assessed under the new criteria which is a tougher form of the 

assessment”. He then went on to say, “we had a responsibility to lead, 

inspire and support excellence across all the services within the UK”. 

It was a realisation that in gaining the excellence standard comes a 

responsibility far greater than what lies within Cornwall, Community 

Engagement, Equality and Diversity (CEED) – is both internal and 

external focused, now that external focus means beyond Cornwall 

and beyond fire services. We have the opportunity to promote what 

we have to the wider fire and public sector services and support 

them to achieve excellence. 

How can we do this? Just by doing what we do, just by doing what 

we joined to do; help and support people and organisations to do 

the best they can for their staff and deliver a professional, efficient 

service which makes a positive difference. Just consider wider than 

us, there’s a big world out there and we have the opportunity to 

spread our Cornish Service spirit to the ends of it. 

We are embarking on a new exciting journey, to excellence and 

beyond, this means spreading the word of Cornwall and our passion 

for change, inclusion and innovation. 

Feedback from our 2016-19 Service Plan consultation has included 

comments questioning why Equality and inclusion is important, 

saying “we should just employ the right person” “I don’t care if the 

person is black, white, a man, woman or gay”. 

We want to be an organisation who 

everyone feels they could work for 

and everyone in our community feels 

comfortable to receive our services from. 

Our service does not currently reflect 

the community we serve and whilst this 

does not mean we need to go and recruit 

everyone from a minority group to achieve 

this, what we do need to do is support our 

staff to understand and accept the emerging 

differences within society and in doing so, 

change our culture to become fully inclusive. 

Really and truly, equality and inclusion is at 

the core of everything we do as a service, it is 

our core business. 

Externally - If we truly understand and have 

an inclusive community, then we can direct 

our services to best meet their demands, 

if we have a fully inclusive community we 

can use them to support us in achieving our 

priorities to drive down risk, a full inclusive 

community which recognises the strength 

of the “Fire Service” Brand will also mean 

that we will naturally become an employer 

of choice, perpetuating the improvement 

of our service based on the values of an 

inclusive service. 

Internally - Within the organisation, we 

need to have a workforce which is fully 

willing to accept change as a normal state 

and constantly drive itself to deliver on 

the inclusion ideal. This is essential to the 

future sustainability of the “Fire Service”. We 

have to ensure our IRMP reflects the needs 

of our community and our workforce can 

fully meet their needs and deliver on the 

requirements of a fully inclusive IRMP, but if 

we have bias or unconscious bias towards 

people and “what people are” we will never 

be able to truly provide a fully effective and 

inclusive service. 

The future of the Cornwall Fire, Rescue 

and Community Safety Service will be 

dependent on its ability to become agile and 

innovative in its ways of working towards 

a more efficient way to manage integrated 

community safety risk, this can only be 

achieved if we are fully inclusive, which 

means acceptance and understanding of our 

people and community. 

If you would like to become more involved 

please contact any of the CEED Members. 

Kathryn Billing 


Staff Survey Update 

The latest employee survey 

was conducted during April/ 

May 2015 and a big thanks 

to all of you who took the time to 

respond. 

This year saw a much improved response 

rate with 54% of all staff responding, 

and significant improvements with 58% 

of Wholetime Staff and 54% on-call 

staff completing the survey. Overall the 

service scored 70% for its engagement 

index, which is higher than Directorate 

and Council average. For those who are 

not familiar with an engagement index it 

measures how staff generally feel about 

working for the organisation, by looking at 

a number of factors which include: morale, 

commitment, loyalty, pride, dedication etc. 

and to score higher than the Council and 

the Directorate is very positive. 

The other main positive themes to come 

out of the survey were your responses 

against the following questions: 

• Have you had a 

Performance and 

Development (PDS) 

review with your 

manager in the last 12 

months? 

• My team works well 

together to get the 

work done 

• I know who to 

go to if I have 

concerns over being 

bullied, harassed or 

discriminated against 

• I know what is 

expected of me in 

my job 

• I make a difference to 

people who use our 

Service in my day-today 

work 

97% 

93% 

90% 

88% 

88% 

A much improved response rate 

with 54% of all staff responding this year 

However with all surveys there are areas we would like to explore 

more to see how we can improve. In particular these surrounded 

the responses we gained to: 

• The Council Leadership Team consider 

input from Council employees when 

making decisions 

• I believe that action will be taken on the 

feedback from this survey 

• The Council Leadership Team act as role 

models for the behaviours expected of 

every Council employee 

• The Councillors support and encourage 

people in my Service 

• I see the changes as providing me with 

opportunities for career development 

17% 

15% 

20% 

20% 

20% 

The full set of results of the staff survey can be found by searching 

“staff survey 2015” on the intranet pages. 

Running parallel with the staff survey we also took the opportunity 

to seek your views on your health, safety and well-being 

through an additional set of questions. The responses to both 

questionnaires have provided us with a lot of information and we 

now need to understand the results and consider what actions we 

need to put in place. 

To help us do this we have established an Employee Engagement 

Group with representatives from all teams and chaired by ACO 

Simon Mould as a member of POG. The group will: 

1. Engage with employees across the Service to ensure we fully 

understand the issues and impacts behind the data as we realise 

that the results we have can be interrupted in a number of ways 

and we want to get under the skin of what the issues are. 

2. Identify overarching themes and deliver a range of actions that 

we can collectively take for the short, medium and long term. 

3. Report progress to all employees. 

Feedback and actions from this group will be shared with all staff 

via team meetings and future additions of Beyond Cover. 

Justin Mitchell 

People Management, Development and Wellbeing 


Integrated Risk Management Plan 

Consultation- Where we are now 

Since 2003 the Government has asked every 

Fire and Rescue Authority to produce an 

Integrated Risk Management Plan (IRMP), which 

we have incorporated within our Fire, Rescue and 

Community Safety (CFRS) Service Plan. The aim of 

this plan is to make sure we use our people, vehicles 

and equipment effectively to reduce risk within our 

communities. 

Our three-year service plan takes into account our views on 

how the service should develop and where we should focus our 

resources. This is based on our incident data, intelligence-gathering 

and needs assessments, as well as information from our partners. 

However, we need to represent the community we serve and it’s 

important that we capture their views, ideas and feelings when it 

comes to the plans we are developing. 

The consultation for the Service Plan 2016/19 commenced on 

12 August 2015 and ran for a period of 13 weeks, completing on 

the 8 November 2015. To support the process, a consultation 

questionnaire was created for the public, which highlights the 

challenges and key considerations of the service for the next three 

years and invites their feedback and ideas. This was published on 

the service’s web pages, along with an electronic version of the 

questionnaire. 

The target audiences have been members of staff, partners, the 

general public and elected Members and the main communication 

channels utilised have been: 

• Web and intranet pages 

• Staff newsletters (Burning Issues) 

• Press releases 

• Letters and or emails to Members, partners, town and parish 

councils, localism staff and heads of service 

• Social media – Twitter and Facebook 

• Workshops with members and partners 

• Community events, such as car washes and open days 

• Presentations to community network panels and town and 

parish councils (on request) 

To date we have received over 500 responses. The majority of 

participants have been the public (167), with 9 elected members 

and 8 partners completing the online questionnaire or filling 

out and returning a hard copy. The 

remainder have been through our face 

to face events that we have attended 

including; Cornwall Pride, Fresher’s week 

at Falmouth University, station open days, 

coffee mornings, Learn to Live events, 

Career events, Partnership workshop, 

Community Panel meetings and station car 

washes. We have engaged with members 

of the community from all protected 

characteristics, this includes disability, 

gender, sexual orientation and religion/ 

belief. The responses also suggest there is a 

good spread of respondents from a range 

of geographical locations. We conducted 

an interim report of the consultation with 

the results suggesting that we need to 

focus our forthcoming engagement activity 

more on the older population. Therefore 

we worked with Age UK to understand 

how best to reach this population group 

to gain their feedback on our proposals. 

We attended Day Centres at Penzance with 

Penzance Station’s Orange watch and also 

at Newquay with Newquay Station’s Orange 

Watch, going through each question in 

detail, at the same time providing fire safety 

advice. We also conducted a session with 

Active Plus, where we went through the 

proposals with them. 

We are now developing the final evaluation 

report which will outline the results and 

put forward a number of recommendations 

from the comments received. We will 

capture comments by grouping them 

into key themes to understand what the 

community would like us to consider when 

moving forward with our proposals. The 

evaluation report will be published in 

the new year. These results will then be 

included in the Service Plan 16-19 which will 

be published 1 April 2016. 

Zoe Gofton 

Integrated Risk Management Plan 

Co-ordinator 


Cornwall Fire, Rescue and Community 

Safety Service launch drug driving 

awareness campaign 

Cornwall Fire, Rescue and 

Community Safety Service held 

an event to raise awareness of the 

changes in the drug driving laws 

which occurred earlier this year, making it 

easier for the Police to catch and convict 

drug drivers. 

The event was held in the Wherry Town 

Skate Park in Penzance on Saturday 

31 October from 1:00pm to 4:00pm, 

when Fire and Rescue staff from Green 

Watch at Penzance, with local Police 

Officers engaged with young drivers and 

passengers regarding; the dangers of 

driving under the influence of drugs, the 

changes in the law, Field Impairment Tests 

(FIT’s) and the introduction of roadside 

testing devices. 

The event aimed to raise young drivers 

and passengers’ awareness of the affect 

that drugs can have on your driving ability, 

including: 

• Slower reactions 

• Erratic behaviour 

• Poor concentration and confusion 

• Distorted perception 

• Blurred vision 

• Over confidence, resulting in risky behaviour 

• Poor co-ordination. 

Watch Manager Mark Grenfell says: ‘Through this event we are 

targeting young drivers and their passengers with important 

messages about the dangers of driving while under the influence of 

any drugs, in a way that is engaging and interesting, while making a 

difference to their attitude and behaviour.’ 

Young people were given the opportunity to take part in a number 

of interactive activities, to highlight the effects that impairment can 

have on their body, including using drunk buster goggles, which 

impair vision, while performing some of the practical roadside 

testing exercises which are included in the FIT’s. These exercises 

included walking on a white pavement strip, putting your finger on 

your nose and standing on one leg. 

A roadside testing device was also available to highlight to 

young drivers that the Police now have a quick and easy method 

of detecting drugs at the roadside. A vehicle was also at the 

event, fenced off in an area of the skate park, displaying various 

information signs highlighting the dangers of drug driving. 

Tamsin Ferris 

Fire and Road Safety Officer (Awareness and Performance) 


Year’s trial of 

a partnership 

with Adult 

Learning 

Adult Education and Cornwall Fire, Rescue 

and Community Safety Service have 

continued to strengthen their partnership 

by utilising Launceston Community Fire 

Station as a classroom for local learners. 

Helping local adults to gain their GCSE 

English and Maths qualifications on a 

Tuesday evening is fantastic for both the 

learners and the local economy. 

The trial will last a year and if successful 

could see Adult Education using other 

Community Fire Stations in hard to reach 

areas, providing residents in more rural 

locations with easier access to the fantastic 

range of courses that Adult Education offers. 

Station Manager Dave Pilling says that, 

“Following on from the brilliant partnership 

between Adult Education and the Princes 

Trust Programme it made perfect sense to 

see how we could work together in other 

areas. Adult Education needed a new venue 

in the area and thanks to the support of GM 

Bartlett, WM Sleeman and all the crew at 

Launceston we have been able to bring this 

trial to fruition.” 

Katie Rollason 

Business Support Manager 

Adult 

Education 

Critical Control 

Centre (Fire Control) 

As we approach the end of 2015, it lends itself to an update to the 

Service reference the exciting changes taking place within its heart 

of the Service “Fire Control”. As some of you are aware and would 

have seen documentation making reference to Fire Control now 

being called the Critical Control Centre (CCC) this change reflects the 

transformation project and the exciting opportunities and challenges 

that the Service has faced against the ever increasing internal and 

external pressures placed upon all of us. 

This transformation project looked at all aspects of a modern Service 

against a backdrop of community and Service needs. Tackling 

the future challenges by defining them as exciting and as a real 

opportunity to transform, evolve and define Cornwall Fire, Rescue and 

Community Safety Service (CFRCS) CCC for the forthcoming years. 

Key elements of this were: 

Collaborative working under the Governments Resilience and Efficiency 

“RE” agenda, with strong professional and personnel links being forged 

between North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service (NYFRS) and (CFRCS). 

This project allows for full interoperability between the two Services and 

strengthens the Services ability to respond to operational incidents, both 

in terms of resilience and effectiveness. 

This work has been unpinned by the move to an upgraded mobilising 

system for both Services resulting in a single platform across two 

geographic areas. 

CCC has also undertaken extensive work within the communities and now 

undertakes Public realm CCTV monitoring for eight Town Parish Councils 

totalling 79 CCTV cameras. This enables key Services to deliver against 

such priorities as a reduction in crime and ensuring further contributions to 

community safety; in terms of preventative proactive work, are provided, 

as well as establishing greater links within the communities we serve, other 

partners and emergency Services are made. 

CCC finds itself in a unique position where upon we are looking at 

other avenues, streams of work in order to deliver economic savings, as 

well as demonstrating an effective and efficient Service, this then lends 

itself to a Duty System Review, to ensure capacity and demand are 

aligned. This piece of work is ongoing and a planned implementation 

date is the 1st April 2016. 

These important areas have been underpinned by the amazing new 

facilities at Tolvaddon, where CCC have a purpose built, high specification 

state of the art communication centre, that allows a multi-faceted 

approach to community safety, mobilising of resources and information 

gathering, sharing and coordinating activities across the wider service. 

The CCC Team will be fully embedded within the new building 

February 2016 with full interoperability with NYFRS commencing 

shortly after. 

Nathaniel Hooton 

SM Fire Control 


Insert Image DSFL with caption: Nikki 

Guest, Jane Alsworth, Anne Routledge, 

Margaret Chelum 

Penpol and Point 

Women’s Institute 

motorists want to 

drive safer for longer 

A group of members from Penpol and Point WI took part in a session 

aimed at refreshing their driving skills in their latest meeting at Penpol 

Chapel. 

Run by the Prevention, Protection and Road Safety Team, the ‘Driving 

Safer for Longer’ scheme is aimed at older drivers in Cornwall, providing 

help and advice to assist them to continue to enjoy driving, while being 

aware of any adjustments that they may like to make as they get older. 

The workshop is run by an Approved Driving Instructor (ADI) and aims to 

equip drivers with the knowledge and information to help them to drive 

safer for longer. The workshop covers issues such as: 

• Effects of illness, medication and eyesight 

• Aids and vehicle choices that can assist drivers 

• Main risks affecting drivers 

• Sources of help, support and advice 

Statistics show that more experienced drivers are less likely than others 

to be in a collision involving alcohol or speeding. However, as a driver 

becomes older, their risk of being involved in a collision at a junction, due 

to misinterpreting information, does increase. From the age of 60 the risk 

increases steadily. 

By the age of 75 drivers are at least twice as likely to be involved in a 

collision compared to when they were in their fifties. This is because 

many of the skills we need to drive are affected as we get older. 

Tamsin Ferris, Fire and Road Safety Officer says: “Through the Driving 

Safer for Longer Scheme we are able to offer older drivers useful advice 

and practical suggestions which will allow them to make informed 

choices about their driving future. The aim of the workshop is to increase 

awareness of the factors which can affect a person’s ability to drive as 

they get older, as well as provide practical solutions to help them to 

remain safe drivers.” 

Further information contact Tamsin Ferris Fire and Road Safety Officer 

(Awareness & Performance) on 01872 327342 or email 

tferris@cornwall.gov.uk 

Tamsin Ferris 

Fire and Road Safety Officer (Awareness and Performance) 

Flood Ready 

Event 

On 27 October at Penzance Community Fire 

Station we held a Flood awareness event 

called Flood Ready, the event ran from 1600 

to 1900, with a presentation at 1800. We 

invited those that lived in flood risk areas 

within Penwith to attend, this information 

was backed up with the Environment 

Agencies flood maps, so we could target 

key at risk households. 

We had lots of water rescue related 

equipment on display including our flood 

and swift water rescue kit, the RNLI flood 

rescue team, the local coastguard team, 

the Police, the Fire and Emergency Service 

Support (FESS) vehicle, CORMAC, the 

Environment Agency (EA) and Cornwall 

Community Flood Forum. We used the 

event to better prepare those that are at 

risk from flooding by educating people on 

pre flood planning such as signing up to 

free flood warnings, what to do in the event 

of flooding and post flooding. This will 

ensure those who are prone to flooding can 

pre-plan and ready themselves and their 

proprieties in the event of adverse weather 

conditions, thus reducing the financial and 

emotional impact of flooding on their lives. 

The evening also gave the various agencies 

a chance to have a look at the equipment 

and techniques they employ in water 

related incidents. Thus giving us all a 

greater understanding of the resources and 

capability we each have. 

We would like to thank all those that 

attended the event and helped with 

organising it. The event was well received 

by all those that attended and by the 

various agencies. 

Tom Nicholas 

Crew Manager 


Texas Re-visited - Learning 

from our US colleagues 

In 1997 I was a Station Officer with Somerset Fire 

Brigade. Paul Young was the Chief Fire Officer and 

he had made links with a number of American 

Fire Chiefs through the Institution of Fire Engineers 

(IFE). Paul and three other Chiefs agreed there would 

be benefit in sharing practices and ideas through 

an Officer exchange programme. The idea was 

simple and I was fortunate to be selected for the first 

exchange. 

The department I was linked to was in a City called Plano, which 

is 20 miles north of Dallas in Texas. My exchange Officer was 

Jack Sides who was a shift Captain, which is similar to a Watch 

Commander. 

Jack came to the UK in May 97 for four weeks and I returned to 

Plano in the August. During those eight weeks we shared an 

incredible amount of ideas and initiatives which led to the retro 

reflective striping used in Somerset at that time becoming a US 

National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standard known as 

‘Plano Striping’. A redesign of Plano fire appliances to incorporate 

roller shutter lockers, rear mounted pumps and ergonomic 

stowage. The introduction of BA rapid entry control procedures in 

Plano came via a visit to the Fire Service College as well as locally 

shared community safety information and standard operating 

procedures. 

Jack and I became very good friends and have shared family 

holidays and keep in touch with regular catch ups on Skype and 

FaceTime. 

In 2013 I had an idea for what is now manufactured as the 

‘Goodpoint’ smoke alarm tester. A device that has not only been 

a commercial success for the manufacturer but has also benefited 

charity and made the testing of smoke alarms more simple. I never 

sought to gain personally from the idea but Purple, the company 

who make it, offered me an opportunity to revisit Plano by way of a 

thank you eighteen years on. 

Our Chief supported me and we agreed on seven areas of focus 

that could benefit our Service during my visit and I returned to 

Plano in September. 

The City of Plano covers 72 square miles and has a population 

of just under 300,000. In the years since my first visit Plano has 

had three different Chiefs and achieved Insurance Service Office 

(ISO) Class 1 and Commission on Fire Accreditation International 

(CFAI) status demonstrating the highest standards for a US Fire 

department. 

Phil and Jack in 1997 and the same picture at the same 

station recreated in 2015. 

Firefighter Josh Clouse, Community Paramedic with 

some of the state of the art equipment that can be 

used for home treatment. 


During my stay I spent time looking at crewing arrangements, 

community safety education, health education, the use of 

information and communication technology (ICT), business safety, 

community volunteers and training recording. 

Crewing Arrangements 

Fire and Rescue cover is provided by 13 shift crewed fire stations 

each with 3 shifts working 24 on 48 off. All staff are notionally 

assigned to a shift at a station although balanced optimal 

cover is provided across the city based on skills needs. Staff are 

regularly required to operate from other stations and they take 

their instruction from the shift based Engineer (equivalent to 

Crew Manager) and Firefighter who operate the central crewing 

software. I spent a day with this shift starting at 0600 when the 

next 24 hours crewing is determined for the shift starting at 0630. 

The geography of the City supports this flexible approach and the 

outcome for the Department and staff ensures that all appliances 

are staffed with the correct skills 24/7, 365 days a year. In the event 

of over staffing the department can make an additional ambulance 

available to reduce overall demand. 

Community Safety Education 

Cornwall and Plano are both proactive in community safety 

delivery although we take different approaches. Our demographics 

have some similarities but as a Fire Department that delivers all 

Plano fire clowns (photo courtesy of Peggy Harrell, PFRS) 


of the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) 

for the City there is already a real and 

increasingly specialist focus on health 

education. A home safety visit in Plano 

already extends beyond the fire safety 

elements to encompass wider health needs. 

Plano take a similar approach to ourselves 

in supporting schools through education 

programmes delivered by the schools 

themselves. However, their most popular 

approach is their Fire Clowns programme 

which is consistently over-subscribed. Their 

Fire Safety related Clowns (all of whom 

are serving Firefighters detached from 

shift to deliver programmes) visit schools 

and community events to deliver safety 

messages through fun and interaction. 

The Department support the Scout’s Fire 

‘Explorer’ programme which acts as a 

career investigation programme for 16 to 21 

year olds. 

Stations are also supported and 

encouraged to deliver local activities in a 

similar way to ourselves. 

I write about Plano’s Citizens Fire 

Academy later, this is also a very successful 

community safety initiative. 

Health Education and Integration 

I was very impressed by the community 

medicine programme where a Paramedic 

Firefighter works with the City’s hospitals 

to help prevent re-admissions. Josh was the 

Paramedic I met and he has undertaken 

additional training to become one of just 50 

people in the USA to date who are Certified 

Community Paramedics. In simple terms 

it has trained Josh to a level that he has 

an increased medical knowledge which 

enables him to work directly with Doctors 

in clear medical terms whilst he is out in the 

community. The result is that Josh can deal 

with complex medical needs in a patient’s 

home securing their independence and 

reducing the need for a re-admission to 

hospital or the need for a Doctor to visit. 

Josh pointed out that he doesn’t carry 

out work provided by others, i.e. if the 

patient was under something similar to 

our community nursing programmes then 

he would not be expected to duplicate 

that role. What is clear through the results 

to date is that the programme is good for 

the patient, medical staff and the health 

insurance company. 

‘Plano striping’, a visible outcome from the original exchange. 

At his disposal Josh has an incredible hand held electronic device 

that can complete 12 different blood tests for a range of conditions 

from a small sample in just 120 seconds, I am pleased to say I had a 

clean bill of health. 

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) 

I know from my station visits that ICT can be a frustration to 

staff here in Cornwall. With Plano being the home to a number 

of International Company Headquarters my expectation of 

their use of ICT was high. In many ways they have embraced 

technology and use it to great effect but they also have their 

frustrations with system limitations. I quickly realised that we have 

shared frustrations and to be fair to our respective ICT support 

departments I believe the constant and real threat of both cyberattacks 

on systems and litigation for data loss or inappropriate 

sharing of data create barriers between what can be achieved with 

ICT and what can be achieved safely with ICT. 

I was able to bring back some ideas around the upgrading of our 

MDT’s. Some of the hardware we use is identical to look at as that 

used in Plano. Internal hardware modification and software choice 

has provided greater functionality which we can learn from. 

Business Safety 

In the area of business safety it was interesting to see that Cornwall 

and Plano are in a similar position. We have both moved to a more 

supportive role of helping businesses to become safer with a risk 

based focus. The Fire Marshall (the senior fire safety officer) stated 

a position he shares with all of the City Firefighters around business 

safety, he said; ‘If a building burns down so does our tax revenue 

whereas if a business comes and stays our tax revenue goes up. The 

result is that keeping businesses safe isn’t just good for the owners 

and customers, it is good for the Fire Department budget as well.’ I 

think this is something we all need to consider. 

I also looked at some of the cost modelling used to demonstrate 

the positive value of business safety and prevention work and this 

will feed into our future planning and performance management. 


Community Volunteers 

In 1997 Plano was running a programme it 

called the Citizens Fire Academy. I spoke to 

one of their classes about the UK FRS at that 

time and learned about the programme. 

Essentially it is a 10 session course run over 

10 weeks. Individuals from the community 

sign up to learn about the work of the Fire 

department and to take part in a range 

of related activities. Those who sign up 

undergo a security check and attend an 

evening class each week as well as an 

activity day. In addition they are expected 

to spend time at a fire station with a shift 

where they ‘ride along’ to incidents to 

observe the work of the crews. They can 

also spend time with departments to gain 

a wide view of the Department. At the end 

of the programme approximately 20% of 

graduates sign up to become members of 

the Plano Fire Rescue Associates (PFRA). 

The PFRA provides support to the Fire 

Department at a range of community 

events. They have volunteer photographers 

who have received legal training so they 

can cover fires and other incidents. They 

also arrange fund raising events for causes 

related to the Department. The PFRA 

members are a valued by staff and their 

communities and contribute to the work of 

Plano Fire Department. 

During my visit I was asked to address 

a meeting of the PFRA. I had an hour to 

talk about my previous visit, the UK FRS 

and Cornwall in particular. The group are 

knowledgeable and they were very both 

surprised and impressed by the range 

of Services Cornwall Fire Rescue and 

Community Safety Service deliver. Not 

wishing to miss an opportunity I also did 

my sales pitch for Cornwall as a holiday 

destination. At the end of the presentation 

I told the group the story of the Goodpoint 

tester and they have since decided to raise 

funding for the Department to order a 

number for use in their own community. 

Training Recording 

Given the departments accreditation I 

knew they would have a comprehensive 

training recording system. I was interested 

in this and met with Captain Ron Cooper, 

the Training Manager. Ron explained the 

training system which has similarities 

to our PDR Pro. What was different was 

Phil presenting Plano Fire Chief Sam Greif with a Cornwall Fire, Rescue and 

Community Safety Service plaque.. 

the amount of detail recorded which is somewhat less than we 

currently collect. Wider statements of competence encompassing 

a range of equipment and techniques rather than detailed specific 

statements for each technique and piece of equipment seemed 

to simplify the recording process to the benefit of Firefighters 

and managers without compromising the extent of training or 

the responsibility of individuals to maintain both their skills and 

records. This is an area where I intend to continue dialogue with 

the Department as we may be able to learn and gain advantage 

through this approach. 

Other Opportunities 

As well as the specific areas I concentrated on I also spent a 

shift riding out with a Batallion Chief, attended Paramedic recertification 

training, met with the Chief and all department heads, 

the City Emergency Planning Manager, the City’s Medical Director. 

I was interviewed for a feature by the local newspaper and I was 

invited to visit the Collin County Jail which gave a fascinating 

and humbling insight into the US penal system. There were 

opportunities to relax and catch up with Jack and his family 

and overall the trip provided a real opportunity to explore 

opportunities and see things from a different perspective. 

The great thing about maintaining relationships and modern 

communications is that the learning on my short trip didn’t end 

when I boarded the plane home. Continuing communication by 

FaceTime and email enable me to ask the questions I didn’t have 

time to ask and to explore the areas I just scratched the surface on. 

Phil Martin 

Assistant Chief Fire Officer 


Ben Chacksfield (Immigration Enforcement), PCSO Bev Faull, PCSO 

Steve Edser, Insp Lyn Gooding, John Dickinson (Food Safety), 

Liz Bowler (Food Safety), Natasha Jenkins (Food Safety), Julian 

Whiting, Martyn Dymond (Public Sector Housing) 

Community Safety Partnership ethnic 

food establishments training days 

The Community Safety 

Partnership, a part of the 

Migrant Workers Action 

Group (MIGWAG), has provided 

training to a number of Ethnic 

food establishments throughout 

Cornwall. A list of premises was 

drawn from the records held by 

Food Safety and cross referenced 

with data held by the other 

partners. Letters were sent to all 

the businesses with an invitation 

to attend one of the training 

sessions. 

It was decided that only the relevant 

partners would be involved in providing 

the training, the presentations were made 

by Cornwall Council Food Safety, Cornwall 

Council Licensing, the Immigration 

Enforcement Service, Private Sector 

Housing, Devon and Cornwall Police and 


Safety Service with time set aside at the 

end of each session for one to one time as 

necessary. 

Food safety covered the areas, infections, 

gas safety and hygiene record keeping. 

Licensing covered the need for a premises 

licence and the penalties for non-compliance. Immigration covered 

the changes in the law over the last 12 months and went through 

the necessary checks that should be undertaken when employing 

staff. Private Sector Housing introduced the Responsible Landlords 

Scheme. 

The Police dealt with Modern Slavery and supported the earlier 

presentation by Immigration. The Fire presentation covered 

the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and provided 

information on risk assessment, competent persons, fire alarms, 

means of escape, fire extinguishers and arson. 

The training took place over five days (14-16 and 21-22 September) 

and was centred in Penzance, Camborne, Truro, Liskeard and 

Bodmin to allow as many people the opportunity to attend as 

possible. 

The team utilised Cornwall Council premises and Bodmin Police 

Station to deliver the presentations. Each of the sessions lasted up 

to three hours and at the end the attendees were asked to provide 

written feedback on the relevance and helpfulness of the training. 

The majority of the attendees were from Chinese and Indian 

restaurants and takeaways however other establishments were 

represented. Unfortunately not everyone who was invited attended 

but this feeds in to the next stage of the partnership’s planned 

intervention. 

It is now planned to look into joint agency visits to the premises 

where intelligence from the partner agencies suggest a lack of 

compliance. Low food safety ratings, immigration concerns and fire 

safety issues will be considered and establishments that failed to 

respond to the training invites will be highlighted for further action. 

WM Julian Whiting 


Four Learn2Live events 

target young driver 

casualties in Cornwall 

On Wednesday 23 and Thursday 24 September 

Princess Pavilions in Falmouth hosted four 

Learn2Live events, organised by Cornwall Council 

Prevention, Protection and Road Safety in partnership 

with Devon County Council. Learn2Live is a powerful, 

thought provoking initiative, designed to target young 

driver and passenger casualties in Cornwall. 

Learn2Live was presented to more than 1000 young people who 

fall into the young driver age group. The Learn2Live programme is 

based on a short DVD showing a group of friends being involved in a 

collision and the emergency services arriving. As each agency arrives 

at the scene, the DVD is paused and a member of that particular 

emergency service enters the stage to give their chilling account of 

attending the scene of a road traffic collision. 

This is followed by a family member who has lost a loved one in a 

road traffic collision giving their account of the circumstances of their 

loss and the devastating affect that this has had on their life. 

The programme concludes with a young man called Pete telling his 

story about how he was involved in a collision, the impact of which 

will stay with him for the rest of his life. 

Tom Rehaag, Fire and Road Safety Advisor, says: “Through Learn 

2 Live, young drivers and passengers witness how a collision 

occurs, the devastation that follows, and how the lives of all the 

professionals, and in particular family members, are affected. We 

Learn2Live1: The line-up of speakers who 

participated in the event (L-R) PC Mike Gamble, 

Simon Taylor (SWAST), Group Training Instructor 

Martyn Addinall, Watch Manager Terry Nottle, 

Sergeant Phillip Grigg, Pete Atkinson 

Lear2Live2: Pete Atkinson who lost his son Tom, eight years 

ago in a collision. He spoke about his loss at the event. 

hope that through this highly impactful 

programme young drivers will think about the 

facts, consequences, and what they can do in 

order to avoid being involved in a road traffic 

collision.” 

The event was being supported by Cornwall 

Advanced Motorists (CAM) who attended 

with a view to encouraging young drivers to 

take post-test training to increase their safety. 

Rob Robinson, Vice Chairman of CAM said: 

“We want young drivers to enjoy their driving. 

The RoSPA Advanced Driving course and test 

is all about ‘SAFETY THROUGH SKILL’. It’s never 

boring. It’s all practical. Young drivers are 

capable of driving to the highest standards 

and we would like to help them do that. We 

have also found that the course helps parents 

restore their own confidence and knowledge 

of current driving techniques which may 

prove useful whilst they are helping their 

son or daughter learn to drive. Call our CAM 

Secretary on 07519 344425 if you would like 

more information.” 

For further information regarding the Learn 

2 Live programme please contact Tamsin 

Ferris, Fire & Road Safety Officer (Awareness & 

Performance) tferris@cornwall.gov.uk 

Tamsin Ferris 

Fire and Road Safety Officer (Awareness and 

Performance) 


Tri Service Safety Officer Role – 

Andy Hitchens 

Why I wanted to apply for this job 

Having seen the “Tri-Service Safety Officer” role advertised on 

the staff intranet I felt this would be an excellent opportunity to 

develop my career from an On-Call firefighter, into a fulltime (2 year 

pilot) emergency responder. I knew the role would be challenging, 

exciting and stressful but was very excited about the opportunity. 

An applicant had to be a competent firefighter and have served at 

Camborne for the last 8 years, which made me eligible to apply and 

I was then successful through the interview process. 

Training Received 

I commenced this post on 3 November 2014 and undertook a Youth 

Intervention Officers Course at Police Head Quarters in Middlemoor, 

Exeter. This course was an 8 day residential course and focused 

around key areas in dealing with both children and young adults 

who require some kind of intervention. I then undertook a Police 

basic driver training course (1 day) at Crown hill Police station, 

whereby I undertook a theory and practical test. The successful 

completion of this course allowed me to drive both marked and 

unmarked Police vehicles. 

I then commenced my Co-Responder training (alongside WM 

O’Connell) with South West Ambulance, where I received full Co- 

Responders training. Following this training I then shadowed a 

Paramedic from Hayle and completed 8 shifts (4 days, 4 nights) to 

help develop my skills. 

In February 2015 Devon and Cornwall Police (D&C Police) ran a 9 

week residential Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) course 

facilitated at Headquarters Middlemoor. As part of my development 

I gained the skills and knowledge to undertake my role as the Tri 

Service Safety Officer, I attended this course and worked alongside 

recruited PSCO’s. The course covered all aspects of community 

neighbourhood policing and concluded with a 6 week probationary 

period where I shadowed a Police Tutor. On completing this tutorship 

I was then sanctioned for independent Police patrol. 

In addition to the above I have completed a number of 1-2 day 

courses including; 

• Safeguarding children and vulnerable adults 

• Child sexual exploitation 

• Prevent (Radicalisation) 

• Vulnerability Screening tool (VIST) 

• Workshop to Raise Awareness of Prevent (WRAP) 

• Anti-Social Behaviour Training (Cornwall Council) 

I am currently working alongside WM O’Connell, CM Jenkin and 

CM Wolstencroft and I am being coached and mentored on how to 

undertake and complete low risk audits and tactical information plans. 

Benefits of the role 

I feel that this is an extremely effective role 

within a rural community such as Hayle. The 

role provides a high visibility presence and 

offers a unique approach in dealing with 

public safety and prevention. Whilst dealing 

with low level crime and reassurance with 

Devon and Cornwall Police, I am able to 

provide advice on; 

• home fire safety 

• crime prevention 

• deal with anti-social behaviour from both 

a criminal and civil aspect 

• health promotion and prevention 

• Make safeguarding and Multi-Agency 

Referral Unit (MARU) referrals 

In addition to this I am able to be deployed 

operationally to incidents that fall within my 

geographical response area by Police, Fire 

and South Western Ambulance Service Trust 

(SWAST). One of the key areas of this role 

is the sharing of information between the 

services and partner agencies. As we are all 

aware at times it can be very difficult to pass 

on relative information to our partners, due 

to information sharing restrictions. Having 

received training on information sharing and 


understanding the key areas of importance (in 

each role), I am able to provide intelligence to 

the Police force grading system and request 

that it is graded and passed onto the relevant 

partner services. This provides those services 

with a greater understanding of key risks, 

hazards and allows them to conduct their 

own risk assessments. 

As we are aware neighbourhood Policing 

has a large workload and on a single day I 

may visit up to 15 properties to deal with 

neighbourhood issues/complaints, this is an 

ideal opportunity to pass on any relevant 

safety and prevention advice I deem necessary. 

Tri-Emergency Service Station 

The Tri-Emergency Service station is an 

operational response hub which is occupied 

by Police Officers, PCSO’s, Wholetime/On- 

Call Firefighters, Paramedic’s, Technicians, 

Emergency Care Assistants, Anti-Social 

Behaviour Caseworkers and many others. 

The Station is occupied over a 24 hour period 

where the three services are working together 

effectively and as a group feel we have 

improved our working relationship. We have 

facilitated joint training evenings with members 

of SWAST and D&C Police and have benefited 

from their level of expertise particularly around 

RTC’s. The Police Neighbourhood Sergeant PS 

Mike Friday has been impressed with the Fire 

and Rescue Services ability to be able to identify 

safety concerns within domestic properties and 

now tasks his team with identifying properties 

which lack fire safety and asks that they be 

referred. 

Anti-Social Behaviour 

Part of my role is to work with Cornwall 

Council’s Anti-Social Behaviour Team. I 

work closely with both Dorian Thomas (ASB 

Caseworker) and Natasha Mathews (ASB 

Caseworker Manager) and provide them with 

an ASB lead for Hayle. This part of my remit 

includes; issuing ASB Stage 1, 2 warnings, 

acceptable behaviour contracts, taking 

community impact statements, attending 

monthly meetings to deliver reports and 

working with partner agencies such as housing 

providers and Addaction. This role works well 

alongside the Police element of my role and 

allows me to deal with situations which fall 

under both criminal and civil proceedings. 

Frequently asked questions 

At times I am asked “what would you do if all three services required 

you at the same time?” 

I am fortunate enough to have received a tremendous amount of 

support from my line managers who for the intern allow me to make 

clear and accurate decisions which are always in the public’s best 

interest. Generally I am able to pull away from the majority of incidents 

within my Police role, so should CFRCS or SWAST require me during 

this time I am able to leave and respond accordingly. 

What “powers” do you have? 

Currently both Police Constables and Police Community Support 

Officers have designated powers by the Chief Constable. Police 

Officers under the Police and Criminal Evidence act (PACE) PCSO’s 

by the Police Reform act 2002. As I am not employed by Devon and 

Cornwall Police I was unable to obtain these powers. As I am currently 

employed by Cornwall Council I was able to be designated powers by 

the Chief Constable through something called the “Community Safety 

Accreditation Scheme” (CSAS). The powers designated enable me to 

perform my role effectively and are within the public’s interest. 

What is the future of the role? 

The role has been funded by Department of Communities and 

Local Government (DCLG) as part of a 2 year pilot scheme aimed 

at improving the way our services work together. The role is to be 

reviewed by an independent evaluator and will be presented to the 

Blue Light Executive Group in June 2016 for their consideration. 

Andy Hichens 

Tri Service Officer Hayle Station 


“Exercise Fowey” 

Fire crews from Fowey, St Austell, Lostwithiel and Polruan worked 

with Fowey Harbour commission and the life boat crews to put 

the revised Fowey docks fire plan through its paces. The exercise 

involved a fire on board the harbour commissions new tug 

“Cannis”, which arrived in port only a few weeks before. 

The exercise was launched from Fowey Community Fire Station 

with Crew Manager Steve Rawlings acting as Incident Commander. 

On arrival at the docks he was informed by the harbour 

commission that the casualty vessel was moored off number 

six dock with a fire in the engine room. Two persons were 

unaccounted for. 

Initial reconnaissance crews were transported by a harbour 

commission craft to the casualty vessel. Crews were met by the 

ship’s master who provided information about the ships condition. 

It was quickly established that there was believed to be a fire in the 

engine room and it was confirmed that two members of the crew 

were unaccounted for. 

A request was made for breathing apparatus and support teams 

to be brought to the casualty vessel to begin the fire fighting and 

search and rescue efforts. 

Crews took action to set up the firefighting media, utilising 

the ships mains and make use of ships plans to Brief Breathing 

Apparatus (BA) crews on the fire situation and last known location 

of the missing crew. 

Boundary cooling was provided by support craft piloted by 

Polruan crews from Penmellen quay. 

BA Teams proceeded down to the lower deck with a main jet 

making access to towards the engine compartment and simulated 

cooling. The use of monitoring equipment like Bulk head monitors 

were put in place to provide feedback to the incident commander 

about conditions below. 

Between the BA teams and the life boat crews all missing persons 

were successfully located one being on board the vessel and one 

found over board. 

Overall the exercise proved successful and many useful points were 

raised for the local Life boat crews, Fire service and the Harbour 

commission with regards to working together at future incidents. 

CM Nicholas Jones 

St Austell 

Hayle Emergency 

Services 

Community 

Station’s 1st Open 

Day 

Saturday 19 September 

was the 1st Open day at 

Hayle’s Emergency Services 

Community Station. 

After a great deal of planning and 

coordinating from all three services the 

day greeted us with glorious sunshine. 

Upon opening the station at 11am we were 

inundated with visitors both from the local 

community and further afield, CM Simon 

Grant making the long journey down the 

A30 with the highlight of the day Truro’s 

Aerial Ladder Platform. We estimate that 

more than 500 people visited the station 

throughout the day. 

Also present was the rescue tender from 

Tolvaddon, water rescue vehicle from 

Penzance, a number of vehicles from Devon 

and Cornwall Police, and an operational 

Ambulance and Car, in between shouts, from 

South Western Ambulance Service Trust. 

The entire day was a complete success 

raising in excess of £700 to be split between 

The Fire Fighters Charity and local charities 

to be selected by the other services. A 

very big thank you to all those involved, 

especially those crews that went out of their 

way to bring vehicles from other stations. 

Ff Chris Wolstencroft 

Hayle 


Chip Pan Demo 

for Falmouth 

Students 

Insert Image Chip Pan jpeg 

Operational 

Guidance 

Breathing 

Apparatus 

2014. (OGBA 14) 

Just after fresher’s week in Falmouth University, 

Blue Watch at Falmouth Community Fire Station, 

went on a mission to educate the 1st year 

students in fire safety within their accommodation 

and student halls. There is around 1000 first year 

students arriving year upon year to Falmouth, 

therefore we feel this is an important piece of work. 

Like most first year students, it’s often their first time away from 

home and we felt that it is in their best interests to educate 

them and make them as safe as possible, whilst living and 

socialising within our community. We worked with the university 

accommodation services and local private agents so all this could 

happen and have an impact on all. 

We started by setting off the alarms within the student 

accommodation and the private accommodation without anyone’s 

knowledge, this then helps gauge the student’s reactions and the 

staffs response. Once all evacuated we then provided a talk on fire 

safety within the home covering; cooking, electrical safety, candles, 

smoking and general fire safety, in addition we also gave a talk on 

the seriousness of automatic fire alarms (AFAs) and how to prevent 

it from happening, also what the effect on the community is and 

how to avoid it happening. 

The reasons for this activity were; 

1. Save life and prevent any serious injury 

2. Train the staff of halls/accommodation 

3. Educate the staff and students on basic fire safety 

4. Reduce the AFA within the student accommodation 

WM Stuart Williams 

Falmouth 

Earlier this year after a lengthy 

consultation period, the Chief Fire 

Officers Association (CFOA) has finally 

released the Operational Guidance 

Breathing Apparatus 2014 to replace 

Technical Bulletin 1/97. A major factor 

in the delay was the Shirley Towers 

incident due to the release of the 

coroner’s rule 43 document which had 

recommendations that would affect the 

policy and procedures. 

Although the OGBA is a guidance 

document, Cornwall Fire and Rescue 

Service has adopted it in its entirety 

going live on 1 November 2015. All 

Operational staff should have received 

the OGBA training and been issued 

with an aide memoir prior to this date. 

Any staff who may of missed the input 

please contact STC to book on the 

catch up sessions. 

There are several changes which affect 

our current policy and procedures 

which are all aimed at firefighter safety. 

Although at first the document seemed 

to over complicate the control and 

use of BA, it soon became apparent 

that it was very much based on the 

improvements following the deaths 

of firefighters Alan Bannon and James 

Shears in Hampshire Fire and Rescue 

Service. 

WM Peter Tonkin 

Workforce Development SHQ 


Bringing smiles and laughter to 

the children of Belarus 

As a Service, we host three days for the 

Chernobyl Lifeline Charity each year, the day 

starts and ends with us collecting from Saltash 

Fire Station and dropping off a group of young 

people from Belarus. A very exciting event, which 

Cornwall Fire, Rescue and Community Safety (CFRCS) 

Service is extremely proud to be involved with. 

Our first eventful day was spent at Nine Ashes, Scout Activity 

Centre near Bodmin. This was the first time any of us had met the 

young people, but it did not take long for everyone to start to 

understand each other. Conversations with feet and hands seem 

to go a long way. Thankfully, a translator is always on hand for 

the more complex discussions. The young people started their 

day with archery, initially firing at the target, but as they became 

more accomplished, firing at balloons and trying to make them go 

pop……..some achieved this. Other activities that day included; go 

kart racing (formula 1 style), low ropes assault course, aerial runway, 

climbing and trebuchet (firing tennis balls at each other). Bodmin 

Fire Station then hosted the young people for a fantastic BBQ; this 

became the theme after each day’s event and thank you to all the 

stations that helped out after each day, you were the icing on the 

cake. They also ran a variety of dry games that evening. 

Our second day was Eden; again a fun filled day meandering 

through the different Biomes. Eden also had their Dinosaur theme 

running, this encourages the young people to search for dinosaur 

bones etc in the sand…..they had many attempts at this; but, we 

cannot forget the wandering T Rex, capably handled by his handler, 

but managed to scare the young people whittles. St Austell Fire 

Station then hosted that evenings BBQ which finished off with 

everyone soaked to the skin. 

The last day was a very long day; road trip from Saltash to the 

sunny shores of Falmouth, although unfortunately, it was not that 

sunny; but this mattered not as the staff at Elemental UK soon had 

the young people changing in to wetsuits, but, not just one, yes, 

two wetsuits, buoyancy aids and helmets! For today the young 

people were going coasteering. When you consider Belarus is land 

locked and the young people have never seen, or only seen the 

sea since they arrived in the UK, to jump off rocks in to the foaming 

swell of the incoming sea was a fantastic experience for them. We 

departed just after lunch to go and visit Pendennis Castle. The rain 

persisted which unfortunately meant that the Knights were unable 

to challenge each other at their joust; but, they were not to let the 

visitors down as they did many re-enactments within the castle. 

Falmouth Community Fire Station hosted the last BBQ, and there 

the young people were given “goodie” bags to take home with 


them, including some photographs of them 

with us, and a CD with all the photos as a 

reminder of their stay with CFRCS. 

The Sunflower branch of the charity is 

very grateful for all the help and support 

they receive from CFRCS Service and the 

fantastic staff who give up their time to 

help. From our prospective it is great to be 

given the opportunity to spend some time 

with these brilliant children, some of whom 

are related to Belarusian firefighters. It is 

very humbling and a real privilege to be 

able to assist in some small way to enrich 

and improve the quality of their lives. It is 

claimed that the few weeks spent in this 

country enjoying the best that Cornwall has 

to offer can kick start their immune system 

and enhance their quality of life and life 

expectancy. 

It was great to welcome some new 

volunteers into the team this year and we 

would like to thank all the businesses and 

individuals who made this year’s trips so 

successful. We always warmly welcome 

and encourage others to get involved, as 

there’s always something to do and water 

bombs to fill! Help can be assisting in the 

day’s activities or as importantly, assisting 

in or supporting fundraising activities that 

will ensure the children that visit us next 

year will be able to be treated to the same 

wonderful experiences as others have. If 

you are interested in helping in any way, get 

in touch with Tony at Service Head Quarters 

Tolvaddon. 

For more details and photos from events, 

visit the website: www.cornwall.gov.uk/ 

chernobyl 

Tony Garvin 

Emergency Management Officer 


Q&A for Firefighters Pension 

Scheme members 

The New State Pension and National Insurance Changes 

A new single tier, flat rate State Pension is being introduced for 

people who reach State Pension age on or after 6 April 2016. The 

new State Pension should help people better understand what 

they will get so that they can plan for their retirement. It will replace 

the existing basic and additional State Pension. 

As a member of the Firefighters Pension Scheme (FPS) you 

are currently ‘contracted out’ of the additional State Pension 

and therefore receive a rebate on your National Insurance (NI) 

contributions . This means that most members of the FPS 

are currently paying a lower amount of National Insurance 

contributions. From 6 April 2016 you will no longer receive this 

National Insurance rebate which means you will start to pay a 

higher amount of National Insurance contributions. 

It is important that as a member of the FPS you understand that if 

you are eligible for the new State Pension you might not receive 

the full amount. This is because you have paid a lower amount of 

National Insurance in previous years. 

You will, of course, continue to be entitled to your FPS benefits. 

These will continue to be a very important part of your income 

in retirement, providing an excellent range of benefits including 

benefits for your loved ones. 

This document has been produced to help FPS members 

understand what the changes to the State Pension will mean for 

them. 

Q1 - Why is the State Pension changing? 

Q2 – Who will receive the new State Pension? 

Q3 – Why will I have to pay more in National Insurance 

contributions? 

Q4 – How much more in National Insurance contributions will I 

have to pay? 

Q5 – Will the benefits provided by the FPS change because of 

this? 

Q6 – I cannot afford to pay the extra National Insurance 

contributions. What can I do? 

Q7 – Will I qualify for the full amount of the new State Pension? 

Q8 – Will the new State Pension provide sufficient income in 

retirement? 

Q1 - Why is the State Pension changing? 

A1. The Government’s aim is to introduce a 

simpler, fairer system where people have a 

clearer idea about what pension the state 

will provide, making it easier to plan their 

retirement savings. 

Q2 – Who will receive the new State 

Pension? 

A2. You will be able to claim the new State 

Pension if you’re: 

• a man born on or after 6 April 1951 

• a woman born on or after 6 April 1953 

and, normally, have at least 10 years 

qualifying years on your National Insurance 

record. 

If you reach State Pension age before 6 April 

2016 you’ll get your State Pension under the 

current scheme instead. 

If you do not know what your State Pension 

age is you can use the State Pension age 

calculator to find out. 

Q3 – Why will I have to pay more in National 

Insurance contributions? 

A3. The current State Pension is made up 

of two parts: the basic State Pension and 

the additional State Pension (the additional 

State Pension is sometimes called State 

Second Pension or SERPS). 

The FPS is contracted-out of the additional 

State Pension. This means that during 

your membership of the FPS you have 

been receiving a rebate on your National 

Insurance contributions and have not been 

building up additional State Pension. You 

have been building up pension benefits in 

the FPS instead. 

Q9 - Where do I find out more information? 


From 6 April 2016 the new State Pension will replace the existing 

basic and additional State Pensions with a single tier, flat rate State 

Pension. This will end contracting-out of the additional State 

Pension and so the rebate on scheme members’ National Insurance 

contributions will cease. 

Q4 – How much more in National Insurance contributions will I 

have to pay? 

A4. The current National Insurance rebate is 1.4% of pay between 

certain thresholds. From 6 April 2016 you will no longer receive this 

rebate and will pay the standard rate of National Insurance. Below 

are some examples showing how much extra National Insurance 

contributions will be payable from 6 April 20161. 

Earnings 

£15,000 per 

year (£1,250 

per month) 

£27,000 

per year 

(£2,250 per 

month) 

£45,000 per 

year (£3,750 

per month) 

National 

Insurance 

payable 

currently 

£58.66 per 

month 

£164.66 per 

month 

£307.65 per 

month 

National Insurance 

payable from 6 April 

2016 

Difference 

£69.36 per month £10.70 per 

month 

£189.36 per month £24.70 per 

month 

£347.56 per month £39.91 per 

month 

1 The examples assume the individual is over 21 years, are based on 

the current NI thresholds (2015/16) and have been calculated using 

the calculator http://nicecalculator.hmrc.gov.uk/Class1NICs1.aspx 

Q5 – Will the benefits provided by the FPS change because of this? 

A5. There are no plans to change the benefits the FPS provides as a 

result of the introduction of the new State Pension. 

Q6 – I cannot afford to pay the extra National Insurance 

contributions. What can I do? 

A6. The new State Pension will only provide a very basic level 

of income in retirement meaning that the FPS will remain an 

important part of your retirement planning. Remember that you 

will continue to get tax relief on your pension contributions, as your 

contributions are deducted from your pay before you pay tax. 

Q7 – Will I qualify for the full amount of the new State Pension? 

A7. The new State Pension will be based on your National Insurance 

contributions record and a new minimum qualifying period will 

be introduced. People with no National Insurance contributions 

record before 6 April 2016 will need 35 qualifying years to get the 

full amount of new State Pension. 

If you have paid into the FPS between 6 April 1978 and 5 April 2016 

and attain State Pension age on or after 6 April 2016 the amount 

of new State Pension you receive will be reduced, in respect of this 

period, to reflect the fact that you and your employer have paid a 

lower rate of National Insurance (due to the FPS being contractedout 

of the current additional State Pension). 

If this applies to you, you are unlikely to 

receive the full amount of the new State 

Pension, however, this will depend on your 

individual National Insurance record and 

how many qualifying years you have after 

April 2016. 

The Government has confirmed the full 

amount of new State Pension will be no less 

than £151.25 a week. The actual amount will 

be set in autumn 2015. 

For further information about the 

calculation of the new State Pension and for 

a definition of a qualifying year please refer 

to https://www.gov.uk/new-state-pension/ 

overview 

Q8 – Will the new State Pension provide 

sufficient income in retirement? 

A8. The State Pension is intended to be 

only a part of your retirement income and 

will provide a very basic standard of living 

in retirement. It is important that you plan 

for your retirement, taking into account 

that: 

• people are generally living longer so 

you’re likely to spend more time in 

retirement 

• you may want to retire before your State 

Pension age 

• if you were a member of the FPS prior to 

6 April 2016 you may not qualify for the 

full amount of the new State Pension (see 

answer 7) 

Q9 – Where do I find out more information? 

A9. More information about the new State 

Pension can be found at 

www.gov.uk/yourstatepension 

If you are over age 55 you can request 

an estimate of the State Pension you will 

receive under the new system here 

www.gov.uk/state-pension-statement 

A video about the new State Pension can be 

viewed here - 

www.youtube.com/user/PensionTube 


Business Partner 


Partnership 

Looe Music 

Falmouth Goes 

off with Bang! 

Fireworks Event 

Firefighters from Falmouth Community Fire Station 

once again held their annual firework display at 

Falmouth Cricket Club. This year the weather was 

not on our side and throughout the day whilst setting 

up the rain fell and the wind really blew. 

However we all kept faith that the forecast would come true and by 

4pm the rain had turned to a light drizzle and by 5pm had stopped and 

the wind was easing. It did feel like it could be a low turnout due to the 

weather but by 7pm the crowds were still coming down the lane, so 

much so that the start had to be put back 20 minutes to allow the last 

of them in. 

We had Scott Temple and Pirate FM doing the entertainment with a 

hog roast, fresh doughnuts, jacket spuds, crepes, hotdogs and the 

cricket club providing refreshments and chairoplanes for the kids. 

Whilst the early birds waited for the start they were entertained by the 

Swamp Circus fire performance act. 

At 7.20pm with the clouds parting the music started and £7000 worth 

of fireworks were let off in a little less than 16 minutes. I have to say that 

this year was the best display we have had, and that it is the result of 

working closely with our firework supplier to put together a show that 

we all can be proud of. 

At the end of the night and after a lot of clearing up and counting up 

the gate a provisional amount in the region of £5000 was made on the 

night which will be shared out among The Fire Fighters Charity, the 

Chernobyl children visit and local charities who are invited to apply to 

Falmouth Firefighters Social and Welfare Club for a share, between now 

and Christmas. 

A big thankyou to all who got involved and helped out to make this 

once again a great community event, including the Firefighters, admin 

staff, support staff, wives and partners and numerous other volunteers. 

Next year the display will be held on Saturday 5 November and I would 

encourage anyone who is interested in helping out to contact Giles 

Kent at Community Falmouth Fire Station. 

FF Giles Kent 

Falmouth 

Most people within 

the county are 

now aware of the 

Looe music festival. This is 

now an annual event, this 

year having being held in 

September. 

It has steadily grown in popularity 

with each year and is a massive 

boost for the town and surrounding 

area of Looe at the end of the 

summer season. 

So, why are you reading all about 

this in Beyond Cover and what has it 

got to do with Cornwall Fire, Rescue 

and Community Safety (CFRCS) 

Service. 

Events of a certain minimum 

size that are planned and held 

across the county come under 

the attention of the Local Safety 

Advisory Group (LSAG) for each 

area of Cornwall. As a service we 

get to attend these regularly held 

group meetings, together with 

other interested parties, such as 

licensing, public health and police. 

As a service we have an interest 

due to the associated fire and 

rescue risks that may be apparent 

with the particular event. We can 

then discuss these issues with the 

other parties and the organisers 

themselves, who are often invited 

along to meetings. 

Looe music festival is one such 

event that falls within the LSAG 

radar! The CFRCS Service interest is 

focussed on community safety in 

respect of fire safety, emergency 

vehicle access, water supplies and 

emergency procedures. Most, if 

not all of these aspects should be 

included and managed within the 


Working 

Festival 

fire risk assessment for the event. This all 

sounds nice and simple, but when you’re 

dealing with the safety of 15,000 people 

(in addition to the local population) spread 

across the restrictive area of an old town 

such as East Looe, then it often requires a 

bit more liaison between interested parties 

and the organisers! 

Group 4 staff (Richard Gibbons, John 

Bowden and Mike Tremellen) have been 

working in partnership with licensing 

officers, the organising team and LSAG 

members for the last few months, looking 

to ensure that aspects such as fire safety 

measures (i.e power supplies to the stages, 

gas supplies for food outlets, means of 

escape and steward training for marquees) 

and our emergency vehicle access will be 

available if needed (imagine trying to drive 

a fire appliance down a single lane road 

with 10,000+ people all trying to evacuate 

in the other direction…). This close working 

helps all partners appreciate the wider 

issues that need to be managed, which 

then naturally develops better working 

relationships and makes everyone’s life a 

little bit easier, surely a positive outcome on 

everyone’s increasing workloads! 

The whole aim is to ensure that appropriate measures are put in 

place prior to the event, which will then mean that future events 

in years to come will also consider and manage these aspects, 

together with any learning outcomes from this year’s event. 

The same multi agency approach is applied post event where 

a series of debriefs both with and without the organisers, can 

highlight any compliance issues and recommendations. As a 

result of this multi-agency approach CFRCS Service will now get 

the opportunity to influence licence conditions for future events 

in terms of fire and community/public safety. The result should 

be a seamless process that, if you’re going along to enjoy the 

event, will mean you don’t even notice all the systems in place to 

keep you, the other 14,999 people attending and the rest of the 

population of Looe safe. 

This is but one of the many aspects of what has often been 

referred to as the “dark arts” of fire safety, shrouded in mystery 

and practiced by a small group of Service personnel. These 

people are thought to work in shadowy, dimly lit (is that safe??) 

offices of community fire stations around the county, rarely 

emerging except in extreme circumstances (e.g fire drills and 

birthday cakes…). 

In a future issue of Beyond Cover, another aspect of the dark arts 

may be revealed to readers. 

WM Mike Tremellen 

Penzance 


Liskeard and Bodmin crews 

involved in Line Rescue Exercise 

on the Liskeard Viaduct 

Over the last 3 years BAM 

Nuttall has been working 

alongside Network Rail to 

repair and refurbish the rail viaduct 

next to Liskeard Train station. 

The viaduct on the Plymouth side of Liskeard 

stands some 150-200 feet above the ground 

and has an intricate scaffolding system that is 

underslung from the main carriageway body. 

This scaffold system allows engineers to carry 

out their repairs in relative safety; however the 

access through the scaffold to the viaduct is 

complex and difficult to negotiate. 

BAM Nuttall had concerns with regards to the 

safety of their staff should one of them suffer 

a medical event i.e. have a heart attack or 

stroke and how they would be rescued from 

the structure. 

BAM Nuttall contacted the fire service to see 

if we would like the opportunity to perform 

some realistic line rescue training on the 

structure and to test our procedures whilst 

working alongside the rail and construction 

companies. 

This was a great opportunity to utilise an 

excellent venue that could incorporate 

several realistic training elements in different 

scenarios. 

A risk assessment was carried out by WM 

Sleeman and WM Smith the Group Training 

Instructors for Group 3 and 4 respectively and 

2 separate exercises were arranged for the 6th 

August 2015 involving crews from Liskeard 

and Bodmin. 

Exercise 1 

To rescue a live casualty from underneath the mainline railway track on 

the scaffold system. 

The casualty had suffered a heart attack and the ambulance service 

had asked for the fire service to assist. 

WM Mark Smith acted as our heart attack victim and lay on top of 

one of the stone and brick pillars that the viaduct sits on. Liskeard 

crew attended as the initial response with FF Jamie Coleflax in charge 

gaining some valuable crew command experience. 

He made an early assessment of the situation and sent an informative 

message detailing that they had gained access to the scaffolding and 

had located the casualty. First aid was being administered and that 

the rescue options were being assessed. They were then awaiting the 

arrival of the Bodmin rope rescue unit on 71R4. 

The Bodmin rope rescue unit arrived approximately 8 minutes after 

Liskeard with WM Mark Goldsmith as OIC. The unit was closely 

followed by Technical Rescue Officer SM Lee Griffin. 

The rope unit crew liaised with the Liskeard crew and informed them 

that the confined space rescue stretcher may be of use to assist 

recovering the casualty. A plan to package the casualty in the stretcher 

and manoeuvre him using ropes through the scaffold would make 

the recovery easier and safer. The casualty was recovered to a place 

of safety and released from the stretcher, much to his relief, as the 

stretcher can be very claustrophobic. The head scaffolder for BAM 

assisted the rescue by removing scaffold tubes to create space, which 

worked extremely well. 


Exercise 2 

To rescue a scaffolding worker that had fallen from the scaffolding and 

was left hanging injured on his inertia reel system. 

A Fire Service dummy was used for this exercise to simulate the injured 

scaffolder. The rescue was to be performed by a member of the rope 

rescue crew from Bodmin. 

The rope rescue crew assisted by the Liskeard crew set up the line 

system required to perform such a rescue with WM Goldsmith acting 

as overall safety officer, FF Dick Emery as the ‘Topman’ and SM Griffin 

as command and control, Tech Rescue Officer. 

The casualty and rescuer were hauled to 

safety onto the scaffold level where they were 

clipped onto safety lines and removed from 

the edge of the 150-200 feet fall. 

Following both exercises a constructive hot 

debrief was performed involving both the 

crews from Liskeard and Bodmin and staff 

from Network Rail and BAM Nuttall. 

The main learning outcomes were: 

FF Nathan Bonney was chosen as the rescuer. This was a great 

opportunity for him to develop his skills, confidence and perform a 

rescue in such a realistic environment. 

After checking and checking again that everything was in place, secure 

and safe, FF Bonney abseiled to a position just above the casualty and 

attached what is known as a soft link, into the casualties harness. He then 

lowered himself a little closer which enabled him to get a hard link directly 

in the main attachment point of the harness worn by the casualty. Once 

this was achieved a recovery system was put in place by the rope crew, 

whilst maintaining safety and command and control at all times. 

Particular attention was given to the edge protection, angles of 

loading to the anchor points, the amount of loading on specific items 

of equipment and ensuring that the recovery of the rescuer and 

casualty was performed in such a way, that minimised any jerking of 

the rescue lines, as this movement can increase the load. 

• The difficulty in the access and egress to 

scaffold structures of this type 

• The limitations of the 1st attending crew/ 

appliance 

• Working in confined spaces 

• Ascertaining the safe working load for the 

scaffolding structure 

• Wet, slippery wooden scaffold boards 

presenting high risk of slips, trips and falls 

Both exercises proved of great benefit to both 

crews, BAM Nuttall and Network Rail. 

On behalf of Cornwall Fire, Rescue and 

Community Safety Service, I would like to 

thank BAM Nuttall and Network Rail for this 

rare opportunity to exercise on a viaduct and 

will look forward to working together in the 

future. 

Thanks to all who were involved in the 

exercise planning and those who attended 

and I would like to personally thank WM Mark 

Goldsmith who was instrumental in, forgive 

the pun, getting the whole exercise off the 

ground. 

SM Lee Griffin 

Bodmin 


Initial Police L 

Joint working with 

Environment Agency 

to reduce fire risk 

Poor fire safety management has led to a 

number of large incidents over the last few 

years at waste transfer and storage sites. 

The long duration of Firefighting operations, along with the impact 

on transport and the local community, has led to the Government 

asking what the Fire Service and Environment Agency were doing 

to reduce the risk. 

At the end of 2014 GM Steve Halstead arranged a seminar with 

the Environment Agency, attended by CFOA, to look at how the 

risk in Cornwall could be reduced. A joint team of officers was put 

together to have joint training on the guidance and progress the 

identification of the most high risk sites. 

The 10 highest risk premises were identified and a training day 

arranged for Fire Safety and Environment Agency (EA) Officers on 

the technical guidance document. The sudden replacement of the 

guidance with a prescriptive Fire Prevention Plan document in early 

2015 delayed the audits, but by the summer SM Stewart Whitworth, 

SM Mike Tremellen and WM Terry Nottle were undertaking joint 

visits with EA officers. 

The audits focused on managing the waste material, reducing the 

fire risk on site and appropriate emergency procedures. Sites are 

also responsible for managing any possible environmental impact 

of a fire including fire water run-off. 

Due to the majority of business being family run, knowledge of the 

new fire prevention plans has been low, but with the support being 

offered by the EA the level of compliance is being raised. However 

where this has not happened the EA will take action when required 

to have permits revoked. Further joint visits to known sites holding 

hazardous waste will take place next year. 

WM Terry Nottle 

Initial Police Learning 

Development is a twoyear 

programme with 

approximately 35 weeks of 

supporting learning materials 

undertaken by Police 

Constables. 

Truro Community Fire Station has hosted 

a number of Community Engagement 

Placements for Student Officers. 

“All student officers complete the 

Initial Police Learning Development 

Programme (IPLDP). Within this 

programme there is up to a 5 day 

community placement, where student 

officers spend time with partner 

agencies and organisations in order 

to enhance their understanding of 

both how the police service interact 

with their partners and the wider 

community whilst in a protected training 

environment.” 

As part of the programme we endeavour 

to familiarise the student with our 

protocols, ethos, and wider community 

engagement. This is essentially 

undertaken by shadowing our daily 

routine and having hands on approach 

with our training regime, participating in 

any activities we have planned. 

The first day started with a visit to the 

King Harry Reach, PC Simon Andrews 

was able to participate in a joint risk 

inspection with Truro Harbour Office 

with the kind permission of Truro 

Harbour Master Mark Killingback. 

Personnel boarded sister ships, Summer 

Flower and Summer Meadow via the 

Harbour launch from Trelissick Pontoons. 


earning Development Training 

Vessels SUMMER MEADOW and SUMMER FLOWER are refrigerated cargo ships built in 1984/1985 sailing under the flag of Bahamas The Vessels are 

in 169m length overall and beam of 24m. The gross tonnage is 12659 tons. 

A view from the Bridge of SUMMER MEADOW 

Later that morning Simon accompanied the watch to a Community 

Safety event which involved a now well established subject within 

Threemilestone School’s curriculum and Truro Community Fire 

Stations Calendar “The Great Fire of London”. 

We were able to deliver key messages of Fire Safety and our Hoax 

call Education Programme to Key Stage 1 pupils. 

WM Ray Filbey 

Truro 


Normandy 

Cycle Trip 2015 

In early September members of Orange 

Watch along with WM Des O’ Connell and 

Ff Terry Ray from London Fire Brigade 

undertook a cycle trip around the 2nd 

World War sites of Normandy over 4 days. 

In organising the trip the watch raised 

money for The Fire Fighters Charity and The 

Cove Macmillan Cancer Care. 

Pegasus bridge 2015 

The trip was based at a camp site near 

Sword beach so this area and Juno were 

quickly explored on bike. The group visited 

many sites during their trip including the 

Pegasus Bridge named after the winged 

emblem of the British Airborne Forces 

who bravely and skilfully took the area by 

gliders and in so doing liberated the first 

house in France (where we had our lunch 

after visiting the museum). Other visits 

included the city of Caen, the Longues-Sur- 

Mer German gun battery with its massive 

concrete emplacements, Bayeux and the 

American cemetery at Omaha beach. The 

group also visited Arromanches and Gold 

beach to see the Mulberry Harbours, which 

were even more impressive in the flesh than 

in pictures, especially knowing how they 

were used. 

The fund raising efforts totalled over £2000 

for our above mentioned charities. 

Ff Andy Bales 

Penzance 

34 Beyond Cover December 2015 

Omaha beach cemetery 2015 

Fundraisers 

to Lifesavers 

Liskeard Firefighter Jamie Coleflax 

organised for a crew from Liskeard 

Community Station to spend the August 

Bank Holiday Sunday fundraising in the 

foyer of Morrisons. The crew spent the 

day on the cross trainer raising money for 

The Fire Fighters Charity. 

Two hours in to the event a member of the public came and asked 

if there was a first aider in the crew as a man had collapsed in 

the toilets. Firefigher Steve Bailey and Dan Rodgers, responded 

immediately and discovered a male slumped on the floor in a 

cubical. The male had no pulse and was not breathing. Steve and 

Dan immediately started CPR and continued until the arrival of the 

Ambulance. 

The crew then continued with the fund raiser and at the end of the 

day made a total of £1,234.00 for The Fire Fighters Charity 

We have since heard the gentleman made a full recovery. 

SM Danny Smith 

Liskeard 

Wadebridge Fire Station annual 

6 a side cricket competition in 

aid of The Fire Fighters Charity 

On Sunday 19 July, Wadebridge Community Fire Station held there 

annual six a side cricket competition at Wadebridge Cricket Club. 

On a glorious sunny afternoon eight teams entered the 

competition with representation from Wadebridge, Newquay, 

Padstow, Bodmin and four other local teams. 

A large number of spectators also turned out to watch top quality 

cricket or maybe it was the smell of the barbeque that enticed 

them over! 

Some great cricket ensued in true Fire Service competitive spirit 

and the overall winners were Padstow Community Fire Station. 

SM Rob Taylor was presented with the trophy from the organiser 

SM Tim Jones. 

With entry fees and takings from the barbeque a total of £505 was 

raised for The Fire Fighters Charity. Well done to all involved. 

A big thank you to Tim Jones and team who organised the event 

and barbeque, also to all at Wadebridge Cricket Club for allowing us 

to use all the facilities. 


Bodmin

Launceston 

Firefighters 

Charity Car 

Wash 

On Saturday 19 September, CM Steve 

Branch of Launceston Station organised a 

Firefighters Charity Car Wash. Firefighter 

Adam Chapman baked cakes and there 

were some activities for children to keep 

them occupied whilst the cars were 

being washed and also opportunity for 

adults to give feedback to the Integrated 

Risk Management Plan (IRMP) 2016-19 

consultation. A total of £400 was raised on 

the day which is going to be matched by 

Barclays Bank. 

WM Andy Sleeman 

Bodmin 

Cornwall Fire Service 

takes on London in the 

UK cup prelim round 

On Thursday 10 September 2015, Cornwall hosted London in the prelim 

round of the British Fire Service UK Cup, open age, 11 a side. 

The game was played at Newquay Football Club on a beautiful, warm 

evening with an 1830hrs kick off. 

Cornwall had a few key players missing but still managed to get a fine 

squad of 14 players for the game. 

Following a disciplined team talk from Sacha Wheatman, team manager, 

the game kicked off. 

London had the better start and within the first five minutes had a free 

kick awarded just outside our penalty box. A wall was lined up by the 

goal keeper, Simon Zinn, but seemed to have little effect as the free kick 

was clinically taken and the ball was slotted into the top right corner of 

the goal. 1- 0 to London. 

Cornwall battled well and did have a couple of chances cleared off the 

line. We kept London at bay for the rest of the 1st half which ended 1 – 0 

to London. 

A stern team talk from the manager at half time saw Cornwall come out 

in the 2nd half revitalised and a different team. 

We created a few chances and had London on the back foot. The longer 

the game went on London were getting more and more frustrated. 

Within 10 minutes of the start Cornwall was awarded a corner. The ball was 

crossed into find Danny O’ Hagan who headed the ball into the net. 1 – 1. 

By this time London were really frustrated and were making some silly 

mistakes. Martin Murt who was tenacious in midfield, won a free kick 

in London’s half. The ball was crossed into the box, again to find Danny 

O’Hagan, who headed the ball into the bottom corner. 2 – 1 to Cornwall. 

Cornwall pressed London again and again and following a fine move 

down the right wing, Mike Titchin stole the ball from the left back and 

found Danny O’Hagan who looped the ball into the London penalty 

box. Nathan Bonney ran onto the ball and half volleyed it with venom, 

hitting the underside of the bar and then hitting the back of the net. A 

world class finish. 3 - 1 to Cornwall. 

With 10 minutes left, London started to fight back and applied a lot of 

pressure to our defence. They hit a long ball down the right wing where 

it was crossed into our 6 yard area to find a London player who slotted it 

in. 3 – 2 Cornwall. 

The last 10 minutes seemed an age as London kept the pressure on, but 

eventually the final whistle blew and Cornwall were elated winning 3 -2. 

Thanks to all the players who made the effort to play and to Newquay 

Football Club for use of their facilities. 


Bodmin 


IT Training 

Opportunities 

IT is becoming an increasingly 

important part of our lives 

– both at home and in the 

workplace. 

Is it time to brush up on your IT skills? 

Perhaps you are a beginner and want to 

learn more about IT? Or maybe you use IT on 

a daily basis, but think that you could use IT 

more effectively in your role? Whatever your 

level of IT ability, the Corporate Learning and 

Development team offer a course that can 

help you improve your skills. 

They offer a range of IT courses, both 

classroom and e-learning, so that you can 

learn in a way that suits you. 

A range of e-learning modules at beginner, 

intermediate and advanced level for 

all the Microsoft Office applications used 

in Cornwall Council are available. You can 

find them by clicking on the ‘learning and 

development’ icon on your desktop, click 

on the ERP and IT button. You will be find 

course descriptions which can help you to 

determine which level of course will best suit 

you and details of how to book onto each 

course. You can start learning straight away! 

Apprenticeship 

Awards 2015 

T 

hree of our apprentices were nominated for 

Cornwall’s Apprenticeship Awards which 

was held at Truro College on Wednesday 30 

September. 

Megan Williams from the Prince’s Trust and Elen Thomas, 

Community Safety Advisor were shortlisted for Customer Service 

and Retail Apprentice of the Year. Stephanie Hosken from the 

Principal Officer Group was shortlisted for Business Apprentice of 

the Year. The evening went well and all three apprentices received 

highly commended in their category. 

Megan is carrying out her apprenticeship and Elen and Stephanie 

have both been successful in applying and retaining their positions 

within the Service. 

As a Service we look forward to carrying on with the apprenticeship 

scheme and will shortly be welcoming more apprentices. 

To find out more about becoming an apprentice for Cornwall 

Council / Cornwall Fire and Rescue please visit: 

www.cornwall.gov.uk/jobs-and-careers/apprenticeships 

Classroom based IT courses are also 

available in the following applications: 

• Microsoft Excel (1 day - introductory, 

immediate and advanced) 

• Microsoft Outlook (1 day – introductory 

and advanced) 

• Microsoft PowerPoint (1 day) 

• Microsoft Word (1 day - introductory, 

immediate and advanced) 

• Mail merge (1/2 day) 

• Umbraco CMS Editor (1/2 day introductory) 

If you have any further queries, please 

don’t hesitate to contact the Learning and 

Development Team on 01872 324540 or 

learndevelop@cornwall.gov.uk 

L-R Megan Williams, Elen Thomas and Stephanie Hosken 


Business Partner 


(L-R) Anne Short, head-of-house at Cape Cornwall School, Jody Butterly and Ian Laurie, members of Falmouth Community Fire Station, 

Louise, Henry, and Tony Snelson, and fellow fireman Tony McGuire. 

St Just boy praised for quickthinking 

which helped to save 

father’s life – Cornishman Article: 

Henry Snelson, 14, was quick to ring 999 when 

his father, Tony Snelson, started to have a 

heart-attack. 

Henry, who was 13 at the time of the incident, which happened 

on April 26, said: “Mum had just got home when Dad yelled ‘I can’t 

breathe!’. I went into the bedroom and he was on the bed in a 

weird position – I think he was reaching for the phone. 

“As soon as Mum came up I went straight for the phone and rang 

999 and then I just did everything I was taught in the Pheonix 

project.” 

The project, which he undertook through his school, Cape 

Cornwall, back in November, aims to teach people how respond to 

incidents in an emergency. 

According to his mother Louise Snelson, without Henry’s help, 

things may have turned out differently. 

She said: “Henry kept really calm, and with him keeping calm, I kept 

calm and, as a knock-on effect, his 10-year-old sister Amelia kept 

calm and I could bark instructions in between. 

“He kept in time with the compressions as I did CPR, to make sure I 

wasn’t counting too quickly.” 

Following his heart attack, Tony was air-lifted to Treliske Hospital, 

where he ended up in HDU and it was confirmed he had a 

cardiomyopathy. He later experienced pneumonia and a ministroke, 

and now has a defibrillator pacemaker. 

Now recovering, Tony, a jewellery pattern maker, said: “I think I 

lost about three weeks. I can’t remember anything that day. The 

last thing I remember is leaving here [Cape 

Cornwall School] the night before, having 

done the Macmillan live music show.” 

Before the course, Louise, who is a teaching 

assistant at St Just Primary School, says 

that Henry had undergone a tricky time 

at school, and not only did the course 

calm him down, but also helped when he 

needed it most. 

She said: “He really pulled it together when 

he had to.” 


Safety Service, which runs the five-day 

Pheonix Project, states that without 

immediate intervention, those who suffer 

cardiac arrest have a 4% chance of survival 

outside of a hospital. 

Ian Laurie, project teacher and member 

of Falmouth Community Fire Station, who 

hosted the course, said: “Doing something 

is better than nothing – even if it’s just a 999 

call. Even just giving that informative call and 

supporting someone else, like Henry did by 

counting with his mum for the compressions 

– all those little bits will just help. 

“Being in the right place at the right time 

with the right people around you is what 

saves your life.” 


Letters of appreciation 

Dear Sir, 

We had a most delightful visit from Fire Officer Leigh- 

Anne this week. She checked our home for fire safety 

and with the minimum amount of fuss and the maximum 

amount of cheerfulness; she kindly replaced our aged fire/ 

smoke alarms with more up to date and user friendly ones. 

So a very big thankyou from us both to you and her. 

Yours Faithfully, Ron & Chris Bennett. Liskeard 

Hello, 

I would just like to take this opportunity 

to say thank you for your support. One 

of your crews recently attended our 

‘Community Fun Day’ event we had at 

Bethel Community Church, Pond Lane, 

Redruth (22nd August 2015). Despite 

the poor weather the fire brigade were 

enthusiastic and engaged with the adults 

and children alike. Their presence helped 

to make our day a success. 

Once again thank you. 

Pastor Jason Gunn 

I am a primary school teacher at Mount Charles 

School in St. Austell. We had a visit from Green 

Watch at St Austell Fire Station last week as 

part of our ‘people who help us’ topic this half of 

term. I was so impressed with how the crew were. 

They pitched their talk at the appropriate level 

for the children and had great interaction with 

the children. 

I wanted to express my gratitude as it ’s not very 

often visitors are like that. Green Watch did a 

superb job of promoting the fire service! 

Naomi Clark 

Condolences 

All at CFRCS Service would like to pay tribute to the 

former Service men and women who sadly passed 

away during 2015. 

We pay tribute to: 

Ex Firefighter Larry Shields 

Ex Divisional Officer Charlie Bailey 

Ex Firefighter Michael Hardy 

Firefighter Martin Page of St. Ives Community Fire 

Station 

Ex Sub.O. Bob Lean who served at Truro Fire Station 

as a retained firefighter before joining the wholetime 

serving mostly at Bodmin and in the Training 

Department. 

Ex Station Manager David Hazelden who served at St 

Austell Fire Station 

Ex Firefighter Tony Winnacott. 

Crew Manager Leon Kemp of St Keverne Community Fire 

Station. 

Crew Manager Dave Curtis St Austell Station 

Ex Sub.O. Al Lean who served at Truro Fire Station 

Ex Firefighter Geoff Cunningham who served most of his 

career at Bodmin Fire Station having joined the Service 

as a Retained Firefighter at Fowey in 1959 before retiring 

from the wholetime service in the mid 1980s. 

Ex Station Officer Sam Mundy who served at Mullion 

Community Fire Station. 

Ex Leading Firefighter Rodney Dower who served at 

Truro Fire Station and Service Headquarters. 


Hi Leigh-Anne, 

I just wanted to write to you to thank you for the change you have made to 

my little lad’s life. 

As you know, we were living at Pool in a Bungalow and my son Jake (Aged 

6 now 7 years) was terrified of fire. He couldn’t even listen to songs on the 

radio with ‘fire’ in the lyrics!! 

This fear escalated to the point that he wouldn’t sleep as he was convinced 

that the Bungalow would catch alight during the night. 

No one knew where this fear had come from; the only source we could think 

of was an episode of Eastenders. 

I called the local Fire Station and was given your telephone number. You 

immediately arranged to visit us at home, you did not make me feel as 

though I was being over anxious or unreasonable. 

You arrived in your Fire Van, Jake was aware you were coming and was 

excited at meeting a real Firefighter. I honestly thought you would come 

and speak to Jake and then leave, but, to my delight you brought Jake a 

wallet full of books, activities , your contact details for Jake and his very own 

badge. 

On a more serious note you kindly went through each room asking Jake what he 

thought would catch alight, you even laid on the floor with him looking at plug 

sockets!! It became apparent that it was an electrical fire he was scared of. You 

reinforced that myself and his Dad were there to protect him and that after 

checking every room all appliances were plugged in safely and not overloaded so 

he should not worry. 

You showed him scary pictures of fires and asked him questions at his level 

about each scenario. 

Finally, you gave him the weekly job of checking the smoke detectors with 

his dad!! A job he takes very seriously and still does at our new house. 

He is now in Junior School and his teacher informs me that a lesson held to 

discuss jobs in later life had Jake declaring he wants to be a Fire Fighter!! 

I cannot thank you enough; he is not scared in the least. 

Kind Regards 

Mandy 


Half 

Marathon 

The marathon will pass through the spectacular 

The marathon will pass through the spectacular 

grounds of the National Trust’s Lanhydrock House. 

grounds of the National Trust’s Lanhydrock House. 

Start and finish at Bodmin College. 

Start and finish at the Bodmin College. 

Half 

Sunday 

Sunday 

21st 

21st 

February 

February 

2016 

2016 

Marathon 

To register, visit www.cornwall.gov.uk/halfmarathon and 

complete the registration form or contact 

To register, visit www.cornwall.gov.uk/halfmarathon and 

complete the registration form or contact jamarks@fire.cornwall.gov.uk 

or telephone: 01208 72312 

or telephone: 01208 72312 

T-Shirts to all and prizes for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd males/females 

to finish the race. £18 entry fee and £16 for affiliated club runners, 

£18 and £20 for entry on the day. 

T-Shirts to all and prizes for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd males/females to 

finish the race. £18 entry fee £16 for affiliated club runners. 

£18 and £20 for entry on the day.. 

. 

 

If If you you would like this information in another format please contact: Cornwall Council, County Hall, Hall, 

Treyew Road, Road, 

 

Truro TR1 TR1 3AY or or telephone: 0300 1234 100 or email: enquiries@cornwall.gov.uk www.cornwall.gov.uk 

Printed on on recycled paper 35129 395891213 

11/15

Beyond Cover

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