A UNIQUE scheme calling for volunteers to help support the Fire Brigade is to be piloted in St Helens.

Friends of the Fire Service has been set up by Merseyside's Chief Fire Officer, Malcolm Saunders who identified a need for the service to have a voluntary back-up in the same way that the police have Special Constables and the Army have the TA. Graham Hatch, the station commander for St Helens, based at Parr Stocks Road, told the Star: "At the moment, we are the only emergency service who don't have an additional support group. Merseyside Fire Brigade is committed to cutting fire deaths by 40 per cent and house fires by 33 per cent over the next five years and the Friends project would help us to hit home the important message of fire safety.

"CFO Saunders has implemented two pilot projects in St Helens and Formby which, if successful, will almost certainly pave the way for similar schemes."

And Graham is now looking for volunteers to help man the project, which will involve community work, assisting with displays, organising open days and distributing fire safety literature. However, volunteers will not be permitted to assist in firefighting duties.

He added: "There are no barriers to joining the Friends and we actively encourage membership from parts of the community which are under-represented in the fire service including women, ethnic minorities, older people, people with disabilities and any others. The group will initially receive funding from Merseyside Fire Brigade, but volunteers will then be expected to run groups and fund-raise themselves so volunteers with organisational experience would be useful. This is an opportunity for local people to gain the satisfaction of knowing that they are maintaining and enhancing the safety of their community."

IF you would like to volunteer to join Friends of the Fire Service, you can contact the station on 755491.

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