- Home »
Community Safety Champion Awards
Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service (CFRS) has this year launched the Cheshire Community Safety Champion Awards initiative with an Awards presentation evening on Thursday 29th April at the Park Royal Hotel, Warrington.
The Awards were hosted by BBC North West's Mark Edwardson and the winners of the ten categories received their awards from Chief Fire Officer, Paul Hancock.
The CFRS Community Safety Champion Awards have been created to recognise and reward CFRS partners and those members of the general public who have significantly helped contribute towards the main aim of Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service. That aim is a county where there are no preventable deaths, injuries and damage from fires and other emergencies, helping to create safer communities, to rescue people and protect economic, environmental and community interests.
There are 10 Awards' categories, which are:
- Contribution to Tackling Anti-Social Behaviour
- Commercial and Industrial Safety
- Contribution to the Reduction of False Alarms
- Retained Duty System
- Bravery
- Community Safety Champion
- Contribution to the Education of Children and Young People
- Most Effective Partnership
- Sustained Contribution to Community Safety
- Chief Fire Officer's Commendation
And the winners are:
Contribution to Tackling Anti-Social Behaviour -
Ann Pryor, Charities Officer, ASDA, Ellesmere Port
Every year Ann organizes 10 days of bag-packing for West Cheshire Prince's Trust teams. Ann has enabled 250 young people from 22 teams to raise over £10,000 for local organizations working with young people. Many of these young people that Ann has worked with are young offenders and her inclusion of these youngsters has enabled them to give back to communities from which they have previously behaved in an anti-social manner.
Commercial and Industrial Safety Award -
Industrial Fire Managers' Forum
The judges were particularly impressed with the partnership-working between those companies that make up the second largest COMAH (control of major accidental hazards) site in the UK. COMAH regulations relate to the chemical and petrochemical industries. The forum's willingness to share best practice with smaller businesses was a major factor in their success. This forum was created initially for all major firms in the Cheshire area to share good practice and combine resources, training etc. whenever possible. More recently the forum has expanded to include many of the smaller chemical sites to share all valuable information and experience.
View a video of the Nominees for the Commercial and Industrial Safety Award (opens in new window)
Contribution to the Reduction of False Alarms Award -
Jayne Drum, Cheshire Police, Warrington
Jayne has made a real difference directly through the work she has done at local level in Warrington. Introducing CCTV and through partnership work she was able to identify a number of individuals who were responsible for making the calls, resulting in community service and fixed fines being issued.
Retained Duty System Award -
Barlows UK Ltd, Malpas
Barlows of Malpas was first established in 1948, by its founder, Mr. Thomas Clifford Barlow, and has grown at a steady rate since these early beginnings now employing over 350 permanent staff. Two of their staff are Retained Duty System (RDS) firefighters - an initiative that Barlows has supported for more than ten years. Barlows make a difference by allowing both these staff members to hold a full time position with them whilst releasing them for day cover jobs with the Fire Service and granting them leave for additional training courses.
Bravery Award -
Glyn Evans, Macclesfield
The award was accepted by Ian Kay on behalf of Glyn Evans.
Glyn Evans entered a blazing bungalow, rescuing the occupant using training he had received from his employers, Astra Zeneca. His actions resulted in the prevention of loss of life using well thought through actions, stopping other people from entering the building and using his knowledge to carry out a safe and effective rescue.
View a video of the Nominees for the Bravery Award (opens in new window)
Community Safety Champion Award -
Denise Rogers, Barnton, Northwich
Lisa Hirst accepted the Community Safety Champion Award on behalf of her mum Denise Rogers.
Denise is a volunteer who has supported CFRS for the last five years with the Drive Survive team in delivering a short, intensive and stimulating event where young road users are exposed to and asked to discuss the risks associated with being a driver, rider, passenger or pedestrian. She channels personal grief to achieve a positive outcome, never failing to connect with people and has been known to turn hardened teenagers to tears.
View a video of the Nominees for the Community Safety Champion Award (opens in new window)
Contribution to the Education of Children and Young People Award -
West Cheshire College, Chester
West Cheshire College has been instrumental in the delivery of the Prince's Trust Programme for over 15 years. Their continued support and funding of the programme has seen over 1400 young people given a second chance in life. Without their continued support it would struggle to continue. Part of this programme involves a community project where the team takes ownership to raise money and completes a project within the Cheshire community. Recent examples are sensory gardens at residential centres and painting youth centres and school nurseries.
Most Effective Partnership Award -
Halton Housing Trust, Halton
Age Concern, Hartford, Northwich
There are two winners in this category.
Halton Housing Trust is the biggest housing association in Halton with a total of 6,120 properties. One of their aims has been to have all their properties installed with hard-wired smoke detectors which has been achieved across all but a handful of properties. They have also been proactive in addressing the issue of high rise properties following the tragic events in Peckham in 2009, assisting Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service in carrying out individual Home Safety Assessments to all residents in Churchill Mansions, the only high rise property in Halton.
Age Concern and CFRS have developed an innovative project, SPRINGBOARD (Starting Proactive Response Introducing New Gains Benefiting Older people And Reducing Dependency), which has been recognized nationally by the e-Government award and the Third Sector Excellence award. The SPRINGBOARD partnership is unique nationally and is piloting a host of new approaches in developing a resource the not only ensures older people are kept safe in their own homes but are also able to enjoy a quality of life and thrive and contribute within their communities.
View a video of the Nominees for the Most Effective Partnership Award (opens in new window)
Sustained Contribution to Community Safety -
Prince's Trust Cheshire, Chester
The award was accepted by Ian Hegarty on behalf of the Prince's Trust Cheshire.
The Prince's Trust, Cheshire, has worked with CFRS for over 16 years. The first course was run in Winsford in 1993 and since then the partnership has gone from strength to strength. 80% of all graduates progress to further education or work when previously they had become disengaged due to experiencing a range of social issues, being young offenders or in possession of an ASBO. Many graduates reform and become an asset to the community rather than being seen as a nuisance.
Chief Fire Officer's Commendation -
Halah Al-Mashta, Sandbach
The Chief Fire Officer's Commendation has been given to Halah Al-Mashta who has shown great maturity beyond her 14 years. She was only 12 years-old at the time of the house fire from which she led her family to safety whilst calling 999 and relaying information to her grandmother who spoke little English and then assisting arriving firefighters with translation. She saved the lives of her family in an incredibly calm and brave manner by remembering crucial information learnt at Sandbach High School.
View a video of the Nominees for the Chief Fire Officer's Commendation Award (opens in new window)
Community Safety Champion Awards Winners
Photos
To view more photos of the Community Safety Champion Awards please visit the Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service Flickr page:
Feedback Form
If you attended the Community Safety Champion Awards, please could you take a couple of moments to complete an online questionnaire.
Community Safety Champion Awards Feedback Form
