Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service staff have been honoured for their outstanding service and commitment to the fire service and members of the community were recognised for special commendation awards at the annual Worcestershire Medals and Awards Ceremony, held at The Guildhall, Worcester.
The Lord Lieutenant of Worcestershire, Mrs Beatrice Grant presented His Majesty The King’s awards in recognition of Long Service and Good Conduct for 20, 30 and 40 years’ uniformed service and the Chairman of the Fire Authority, Cllr Kit Taylor presented service awards for 20, 30, 40 and even a 50 years of service award for Kevin Harris.
MBCC Construction Chemicals Ltd, Tenbury High Ormiston Academy and Yamazaki Mazak were also recognised and presented with a Chief Fire Officer’s Employer Award in recognition of the exceptional contribution they have made to the safety and wellbeing of our local communities by releasing On-Call firefighters.
wChief Fire Officer, Jonathon Pryce, presented the Chief Fire Officer’s Certificate of Commendation to:
- Bebe Beachus and Henry Cawdron in recognition of their actions in responding to a road traffic collision on 10 August 2023. Martin Bryant and Kyle Annis each received a Chief Fire Officer’s Letter of Appreciation for the same incident.
- Rachel Cullen, Alison Short, Steve Short and Sandra Tisdale in recognition of their actions on 6 October 2022 in rescuing a man from a house fire.
Chief Fire Officer, Jonathon Pryce, presented the Chief Fire Officer’s Letter of Appreciation to:
- Christian Hill in recognition of his actions on 24 December 2022 in responding to a fire at a neighbour’s home.
- Zoltan Kalmar and Glenn Dallard in recognition of their actions on 27 August 2023 when they helped administer life-saving support to a colleague.
- Jordan Ahmed, Nigel Crawford, James Smith, Matthew Round and Lee Rudge in recognition of their achievement of Best Overall Team Award in the 2022 National BA Challenge.
Chairman of the Fire Authority, Councillor Kit Taylor, presented the Chairman’s Certificate of Commendation to:
- Kathryn Berry and DCFO Guy Palmer in recognition of their involvement in setting up and developing the Women@HWFire Group.
- Judy Marshall-Watkin and Rosie Steer-Palmer in recognition of the support they have provided in their Clinical Psychotherapist roles to HWFRS staff and delivery of three Menopausal Workshops.
The Chief Fire Officer, Jonathon Pryce, also presented the following awards on behalf of the Fire Fighters Charity: –
- Oliver Pelz – HWFRS Supporter of the Year Award for 2022-23.
- Nigel Crawford, Leanne Player, Matthew Round, Lee Rudge, James Smith, Simon Hawkins and Andy Dalton – HWFRS Team Fundraiser of the Year Award 2022-23.
Chief Fire Officer Jonathon Pryce said: “It was an honour to once again be able to formally recognise some of the fantastic achievements and commitment of our staff and members of the community.”
He continued: “All of the accolades given were very well-deserved and many recipients have contributed towards keeping the people of Herefordshire and Worcestershire safe.”