As part of the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme the fire service has been awarded a silver award.
The scheme encompasses Bronze, Silver and Gold awards for employer organisations that pledge, demonstrate or advocate support to defence and the armed forces community, and align their values with the Armed Forces Covenant.
To attain a silver award, organisations must meet a specific criteria which includes; signing the armed forces covenant, demonstrating support to the mobilisation of reservists, and developing upon the plans and policies that saw them initially achieving a bronze award.
Deputy Chief Fire Officer Shantha Dickinson said:
“The silver award is a great honour for the Service, recognising the support we provide to those from the armed forces community.
“Coming from a military background it is so important to me that we do what we can to support those leaving the armed forces, and we are proud to say that many of our own people have joined us having served with the navy, army or the RAF.”
With a large naval base in Portsmouth, a major Royal Air Force base at Odiham, the Army Headquarters in Andover and the home of the British Army in Aldershot, the local population HIWFRS serves is made up of a significant number of people with military connections.
Former naval and current reserves officer, Luke Holdcroft, is a crew manager at Winchester Fire Station, and is the chair of the HIWFRS FireFORCES staff network group. He said:
“We recognise the vital role of the armed forces, and the valuable contribution they make to our defence, communities and the civilian workplace. This led to us signing the Armed Forces Covenant in 2015.
“We know that many of the skills trained and developed within armed forces roles, are transferable to the various roles across the fire service.
“The area we cover is unique in having all three services in the area, and one of the largest populations and highest concentrations of the armed forces community. These are our communities and we need to ensure we understand them and deliver the best service.”
FireFORCES aims to bring together and streamline all strands of work within HIWFRS involving armed forces communities both internally within the Service, as well as our communities. These include veterans, reservists, cadet leaders and families of those serving in the armed forces.
The network group also seeks to provide a supportive network to employees who are part of our armed forces community.
The network group will work alongside our already established groups which support ethnic diversity, gender equality, those with disabilities and the LGBTQ+ community.
Find out more about our network groups.
Photograph courtesy of Kevin Poolman Photography.
