Meet Alex

Name: Alex

Can you tell us more about your volunteer role and journey so far?

“I’ve been volunteering with HIWFRS for about 6 years. One of the first tasks I was involved in was sorting out redundant HIWFRS fire kit and helping to pack and pallet it ready to be sent to Portugal, to help them during a series of severe wildfires.

I’m trained to do home fire safety (Safe and Well) visits and I tend to deliver these in the New Forest area, where I live. I also take part in the New Forest wildfire patrols as part of the tri-services wildfire awareness campaign along with Forestry England and Hampshire Constabulary. We work together to patrol every single carpark in the New Forest. During the warmer summer months, we patrol nearly every weekend.

Being a local who has lived in the New Forest my whole life and regularly being out doing patrols, members of the community get to know me. Runners and dog walkers wave when I’m out and about and I feel that having a good rapport with the public helps to get the messages out there.”

“I’ve also helped at lots of community events including Fire Station open days. As well as educating members of the public about fire safety, I’ve also helped to promote the Fatal 4 as part of road safety awareness.”

I was made redundant in my previous IT role of 25 years so when an ICT role came up at HIWFRS, I applied for and got the job, despite not having had an interview for 25 years. I’ve worked in ICT for the Service for just under 18 months now and I continue to volunteer to support HIWFRS in my spare time.”

What inspired you to volunteer?

“I’ve been involved with the emergency services doing voluntary work for most of my life now. I spent 10 years volunteering with the coastguard rescue, then 12 years volunteering as a first responder with South Central Ambulance Service. I’m still a trained medic and work for a private company as a first responder during events.

When I was a child, I always wanted to be a firefighter, but I couldn’t get in because at the time I tried to (age 18) you couldn’t wear glasses, which has obviously changed now. When I saw the voluntary role advertised with the Service it sounded like a great opportunity, so I had to apply.

I love doing work for and giving back to the community and to those who aren’t as fortunate as me, especially being a family man. I’ve got a daughter who’s taking part in the HIWFRS Fire Cadets programme at the moment too – she was reluctant to start but now she loves it.”

What motivates you to volunteer for the Service?

“Emergency services are under so much pressure and volunteers help to ease some of this pressure – helping is a gift and if you can give that gift, I’d encourage anyone to get trained and volunteer. The rewards and benefits of volunteering far outweigh any negatives.

Us volunteers are very proud to wear the HIWFRS uniform and represent the Service. Some volunteers have retired and they now do more hours than they used to when they were working full-time. I would give more time myself if I could.”

What’s your favourite thing about volunteering?

“Whether it’s my ICT role, volunteering or doing my medic role, it’s all about helping people. I’m very customer-service focused, making sure the outcome is the best for the customer/community. As volunteers we are all acting as the face of the Service when we’re out in the community and it’s something we’re proud of.”

Any highlights?

“In my HIWFRS volunteer role one of the main highlights is when we have incidents in the New Forest where there has been a fire, and we’ve recently fitted a smoke detector as part of a home fire safety (Safe and Well) visit, that’s alerted and saved the person. Since we’ve introduced installing free smoke alarms, we’ve really helped to save lives. The home fire safety visits make a real difference to people’s lives – as well as educating about home fire safety and installing smoke alarms we also help to safeguard vulnerable people and signpost them to other support agencies.

What would you say to anyone thinking of volunteering?

“Volunteering can help with self-development and learning new skills as well as helping with your mental health.

With HIWFRS you are looked after and you know where to go if you need help. The current volunteers will support and mentor you. It’s an all-rounder volunteer role and the Volunteer Programme Manager Lee is a fantastic support – always there when you need her.

When you join as a HIWFRS volunteer you are properly onboarded and receive a welcome pack and full uniform. This all helps us volunteers to feel part of the Service. We feel appreciated and welcomed by everyone.

I would say give volunteering a go as you’ll have lots of fun! There’s a real sense of community and reward there for you and you can do as much or as little as you want but every little bit of volunteering…every hour makes a difference to the community.”