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Volunteer: Keri Moreman

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Retired firefighter now active Fire Service Volunteer

Keri Moreman's extraordinary dedication to the Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service saw him named the High Sheriff of Herefordshire's Community Volunteer of the Year at the Service's annual awards in 2018.

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Keri, who lives in Evesham and is retired, gave 544 hours to the Service as a volunteer in 2018 and has racked up 1,370 hours in total since signing up in 2015.

But Keri's history as a firefighter goes back much further.

He first joined the Auxiliary Fire Service in 1963 where he stayed for two years. He was a retained firefighter at Worcester, then moved on to work in Fire Control before becoming a wholetime firefighter in 1973.

He retired from the Service in 1999 but that was far from the end of his working life.

"I was only 53 and I thought 'I've got to do something' so I got a job working for Railtrack as a signalman at Norton Junction," he said. "I did that until 2010.

"Then, in 2015, I saw the advert for being a fire service volunteer and thought that I had the right background, so I applied, had an interview and was taken on.

"I'm so glad that I did – it's been very rewarding."

Keri's role as a volunteer involves him in a wide variety of activities.

"I give fire safety talks, I attend fire station open days, fetes and lots of other public events," he said.

"I get cut out of cars as practice for wholetime and on-call firefighters, although I'm leaving that to the younger ones a bit more now.

"And recently I gave a talk to a school in Redditch about arson and how to avoid dangers around mobile phones, such as not leaving your charger plugged in and switched on, or running the charging cable under your pillow at night.

"I've also attended the Young Citizens' Challenge in Stourport, Bromsgrove and Leominster which involves basic safety ideas in the home.

"Being a volunteer is a very rewarding thing to do and I also volunteer for the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway."

Direct any questions you have to our Volunteer Coordinators via email.

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