County Durham and Darlington Fire Service supports apprenticeship week
The week brings together businesses and apprentices to shine a light on the positive impact that apprenticeships make
County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service say they're supporting National Apprenticeship Week.
The celebration brings together businesses and apprentices across the country to shine a light on the positive impact that apprenticeships make.
National Apprenticeship Week runs until this Sunday (15th February).
Chris Williams, head of emergency response and resilience planning at County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service, said: "Unlike a number of our partners who have dedicated roles in control, our control operators carry out a full range of duties from taking calls from members of the public, working with partners, arranging and managing the staffing across the county and mobilising resources.
"There are all manners of unusual phone calls that come into control and most of those probably aren't related to the fire service. People often see the fire service as being able to help them in their times of need no matter what the issue is whether it's from a set of lost keys or a plumbing issue.
"Control room operators deliver real social value by developing individuals into confident and capable members of the community. It's a very rewarding role. Two key skills for control operators is communication. Being able to speak to the members of the public in their times of need through to our professional firefighters and other partner agencies, and the second most thing is being able to organised in a dynamic fast moving environment."
Cheryl Porter, learning and development manager at County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service, said: "Lots of people are calling me and asking me what's going to be involved in apprentices but because they're embedded across the organisation, and they've probably been in since 2017, people understand what apprenticeships are, people know apprentices, have been an apprentice thsemelves so it's kind of really embedded now.
"We do accountancy, business admin, HR, control operator, firefighter apprenticeships are a big one of ours, we do the CMI level 5, the chartered manager degree level 6 and right up to level 7, which our strategic managers are working towards.
"I'm an apprentice. I'm doing my chartered manager degree at the moment and I think it's exposing me to things that I wouldn't have had the opportunity to if I wasn't doing an apprenticeship. It's really helped me with my confidence, communication, report writing, and gathering data.
"I think it's just about upskilling yourself and your own development. For me, within the organisation, it gives you a broader understanding around how all of those cogs fit together and what's actually going on in the wider organisation rather than just focussing what's going on in your team."