Local crews ran successful events to find recruits but are still keen to hear from candidates

Iain Stephen Morrison

Efforts to recruit new retained firefighters for the local Scottish Fire and Rescue Service stations have been successful after crewmembers ran engagement activities and hosted a recruitment open day in September.

“We are delighted with the response and, in particular, that our female uptake has been fantastic, but we are still recruiting for Bayhead, Benbecula and Lochboisdale, so we are still keen to hear from candidates for those stations,” said Dougie Campbell, Group Commander for the Western Isles.

“What we want to stress is that, while we used to be quite rigid in our recruitment, now we are not, with contracts that might suit individuals in different situations, including parents whose children are in school. We struggle for availability during the day, so if there is someone out there who are free during the day and can offer maybe a couple of nights a week, we would be delighted to hear from them so we can discuss the opportunities.”

Retained firefighters provide the same full range of emergency services as their whole-time colleagues and generally carry out these duties while holding primary employment in various other fields. Some retained crewmembers are self-employed while others work with organisations including Royal Mail, BT and HIAL. Retained firefighters receive a salary and training opportunities.

“Candidates first attend a two-week training course, which is currently available in Stornoway but also in most major cities in Scotland. Between six and twelve months later there is another two-week course. You do not have to be super fit, we are looking for a good level of fitness and we provide a lot of support to get candidates to the right level so they can come on board,” continued Mr Campbell.

“You are helping your community and the camaraderie within the stations is great. It gives you a real sense of wellbeing knowing you are helping people out. You work as part of a team, with excellent equipment, but the main benefit is the knowledge you are doing something for your local area.”

Further benefits include learning and maintaining new skills, being a part of a community based team and having the chance of progression within the station to roles such as Watch Commander.

“I think people rule themselves out too readily,” added Mr Campbell.

“If you are interested, please come and talk to us as you may find it is something you can do. I would really urge anyone thinking about joining not to count themselves out before having a talk with one of the team first.”

Leaflets on the work of retained firefighters have been distributed to local households and more information is available on the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service website (www.firescotland.gov.uk).