Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service currently have several vacancies for Retained Firefighters, but what they're really on the look out for is volunteers.
Many people are understandably discouraged by the concept of volunteering, imagining long hours and hard work, but with the Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service that's simply not the case.
There are no set number of hours or days to be completed, but they ask that volunteers spare a few hours a month, for a minimum of six months to help raise fire awareness and educate the vulnerable on fire safety.
In return for their services, volunteers are provided with a uniform and are invited to attend an appreciation evening held once a year to celebrate their efforts. There are also opportunities for volunteers to earn certificates and build upon their training.
Manager of the Norfolk Community Safety Team, Kristie Burdett thinks the most crucial thing for a volunteer to have is an interest in raising safety awareness. 'If they're interested in becoming a firefighter that's great, but we've got to try and be realistic about this role because these volunteers won't be going out with the fire crew everyday, they'll be educating others,' she said.
Burdett said there are different tasks volunteers can be involved with, including working with a team called the Crucial Crew which runs events in schools, giving talks to the public and performing home fire risk checks. 'We try and match volunteers up to what they enjoy because in our opinion a happy volunteer is a motivated volunteer,' she said.
Desirable skills looked for among volunteers are simple – confidence, enthusiasm and commitment. Applicants must be comfortable communicating with people of all ages and work to build a rapport with those they support.
At present volunteers are needed across the county in smaller towns and villages. 'We can always boost our numbers in rural areas. It's fairly easy to recruit people in larger towns, but it's the residents of the smaller communities without fire stations that are the most vulnerable, they are the people that are often missed,' she said.
Anyone over the age of eighteen can apply to become a community volunteer, if you think you've got what it takes visit www.norfolkfireservice.gov.uk/nfrs/becoming-a-volunteer
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