Becky has been at Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service for twenty years, starting as an On-Call firefighter at Pershore Fire Station, alongside her role as a Horticultural Manager. She has risen up through the ranks from Firefighter to Crew Commander to Watch Commander. Woking On-Call gave her a really good grounding, learning many new skills such as driving fire engines and animal rescue. Becky knew then that she wanted to become a Wholetime Firefighter.
Becky has a 42 hour per week flexible contract, within the Intel team, based at Pershore Fire Station. She covers two operational shifts each month, and continually trains to ensure her core firefighter competencies are up to date. She has worked in the Prevention team as a community risk advisor, talking to the public about fire safety and undertaking home fire safety visits, and has also worked within the Operational Policy Department and Training Centre, which has enabled her to learn about different elements of the fire service and to further develop her knowledge base and skills.
Before joining the service, Becky was a youth worker for underprivileged children and ran a branch of the Fire Cadets at Redditch. As a horse owner, Becky was interested in animal rescue and so took a lead role, training in Hampshire for a qualification, learning about animal husbandry, rescuing animals from water and RTCs. This enabled Becky to train firefighters in animal rescue techniques. She also has a national qualification in trauma care, and trains each year to keep the qualification up to date.
With a young family of two young children, the Service have been very supportive. “It’s a really good career for working around family commitments, especially being on a flexible contract. For example, I could work a long day on a Monday and train with the crew in the evening, but then have time to go to a school assembly the next morning. If I do decide I’d like to go for promotion, I know the support will be there to help me to develop.
“The door is always open to express an interest in a new area. I am now an externally trained Personal Trainer Instructor, where I am able to help operational staff to be ready for their annual fitness test. It’s very fulfilling to be able to help staff to gain confidence, particularly females or older firefighters, who I can support with specific fitness programmes. I’ve also taken a Nutrition course, to be able to advise staff alongside their physical fitness training. There are many ways that the service is so supportive, and I feel very passionate about this.”
