Dear colleagues,

It is with great sadness that I inform you of the passing of our colleague Ryan Johnson, who was serving as an On-call Firefighter at Penrith Fire Station.

Yesterday evening (Thursday 01 December), Ryan attended rugby training and whilst there he collapsed and sadly passed away.

Ryan joined Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service in June 2018 as an On-call Firefighter at Penrith. He will be greatly missed by his many friends across the Service, especially those who were privileged to work directly alongside him. Ryan was a highly respected, dedicated firefighter and was committed to making a difference to the communities he served.

Our thoughts and condolences are with Ryan’s family, friends and colleagues during this difficult time.

John Beard, Chief Fire Officer

Carlisle City Centre – 26 November 2022

In partnership with the Cumbria Police and the local authority, the crews from White Watch at Carlisle provided road safety advice, general fire safety advice and made a lot of the children smile while having a look around the fire engines.

Crews carried out a professional RTC demonstration promoting the event over Social media and through ITV news.

The event was proven to be a huge success and there will be more events planned over the coming year.

Farming Community Network, Eden

Penrith On-Call delivered a Road Awareness session to 40 young farmers from across Eden Valley. These young farmers are members of the the Farming Community Network, the purpose of the network is to provide support to farming communities affected by emergencies.

This was supported by Cumbria Roads Policing team who also brought along their Response vehicle and Crash Car. The session was followed by a practical demonstration involving a live casualty.

Thank you to all those involved as we appreciate all the time and effort that goes into organising these events.

Angela Opie, Group Manager - Prevention

This December, we are inviting staff to get involved in ‘Christmas Jumper Day’ to help raise money for the national chosen charity, Save the Children UK.

All you need to do is wear something festive on Thursday 8 December 2022 and kindly make a donation to the charity through the collections in offices and stations. If you're not going to be around that day, why not pick your own date to be festive?

Remember to send us your photos by emailing hayleigh.johnston@cumbria.gov.uk.

Please note that by sending any photos you are giving consent for these to be shared internally and externally on social media.

Hayleigh Johnston, Communications Officer

We have launched a Christmas appeal to collect and donate gifts to children who will be in local hospitals over the festive period.

They will be delivering the gifts to children in hospitals such as the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle, West Cumberland hospital in Whitehaven and the Furness General in Barrow.

We are aware that there are a number of charities (Cash for Kids, Salvation Army, The Toy Appeal and many more) who are already donating gifts to children in our local areas who may not be fortunate to receive any Christmas presents this year, so if you know of any other children who would benefit from our appeal, the campaign could be extended depending on the response we get.  

In addition to us contacting national chains and local businesses, we would like to give you the opportunity to support this appeal. If you would like to buy or donate a small gift as an individual, or collectively as team or department that would be fantastic. The age range for the gifts are up to the age of 16.

Crews will deliver the gifts to children in the week leading up to Christmas (date to be confirmed).

If you would like to donate a gift, please drop it off at one of the following Fire Stations by Friday 9 December, this will allow sufficient time to arrange for the coordination and delivery of the gifts. 

• Carlisle East
• Carlisle West
• Workington
• Whitehaven
• Kendal
• Barrow
• Ulverston
• Penrith Headquarters

Thank you for your continued support.

Angela Opie, Group Manager - Prevention

All Crew and Watch Managers are required to attend one of the following sessions. The sessions will include important Service updates and training for your role, including:

• Organisational update
• HR protocols refreshers
• Training recording and delivery
• Supervisory handbook launch

Each session will run from 10:00 - 14:00 with lunch provided, at the following locations:

• 03 December 2022 – Workington
• 09 December 2022 – Penrith HQ
• 10 December 2022 – Ulverston Blue Light Hub

Please can all Supervisory Managers book onto one of the above sessions via the PDR Pro course calendar to register your attendance.

So far, three sessions have taken place and we have received plenty of constructive feedback:

“Just some feedback from myself about todays manager day, I thought all speakers created nice friendly open environment, where people felt comfortable to say what is happening in their own station. All speakers listened to people from the Service in a non-judgemental way to take the Service forward, I think this is very encouraging where leaders from departments are keeping everyone in the loop of what is happening in Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service, I think this was very honest and open and good to hear where we are at as a Service.”

Thank you to those that have already attended. If you have any queries, please contact your Cluster Station Manager.

Mike Clusker, Group Manager - Response

We recently held the first CFRS People Awards event, which you can read more about in the CFRS Weekly Update - 18.11.2022.

All of the professional photos from the event have been uploaded to the CFRS Sharepoint site: CFRS People Awards 2022.

Look out for a full write up in the December issue of Status magazine! 

Hayleigh Johnston, Communications Officer