The Lord Lieutenant of Gwynedd, His Honour Huw Morgan Daniel, presented Long Service and Good Conduct Medals to operational staff from the Service during a Presentation Ceremony held at Rhyl Community Fire Station on Thursday 27th September.

The Long Service and Good Conduct Medal is awarded to firefighters by Her Majesty's Representative in recognition of 20 years service.

Simon Smith, Chief Fire Officer said:, "Receiving a medal is an important occasion for every firefighter and this ceremony collectively represents over 100 years of commitment and dedication to the Fire and Rescue Service in North Wales. All recipients can take pride and satisfaction in receiving their Long Service and Good Conduct Medals or Loyal Service Awards."

The Chair of the North Wales Fire and Rescue Authority, Councillor Aled Morris Jones presented the Loyal Service award to a member of the support staff who has completed twenty years service.

Community awards were also presented at the ceremony in order to recognise members of staff and the community who have worked hard to improve community safety in North Wales.

Fire Service Long Service Good Conduct Medals

PETER JOHN DAVIS

Peter started his career with Clwyd Fire Service in 1992 as a Fire Control Operator based in Rhyl, becoming Leading Fire Control Operator in 1998.

He has performed vital roles on a number of high profile projects in the last few years including Recording Management System, Joint Communications Centre project and the Airwave implementation.

Peter is currently Control Systems Station Manager based at the Joint Communications Centre in St Asaph.

DEWI GLYN JONES

Dewi joined Gwynedd Fire Service in 1990 as a firefighter at Llandudno Fire Station. After a short break from the service, rejoined in 1997 and became Crew Manager in 2005.

Dewi is currently at Llandudno Fire Station.

BRYN LLOYD ROBERTS

Bryn joined Gwynedd Fire Service as a firefighter at Llanberis Fire Station in 1991, becoming leading firefighter in 2003.

Currently Bryn is Crew Manager at Llanberis Fire Station.

ANTHONY NEVILLE WESTON

Neville started his career with Clwyd Fire Service as a firefighter in 1992 at Denbigh Fire Station, becoming leading firefighter in 1995.

Neville is currently stationed at Abergele Fire Station.

MEURIG GLYN WILLIAMS

Meurig began his career with Gwynedd Fire Service in January 1992 as a firefighter at Benllech Fire Station.

Meurig continues to serve the community at Benllech Fire Station.

 

LOYAL SERVICE AWARD

JAMES FRANCIS HUGHES

Jim started his career with Gwynedd Fire Service in February 1990 as a firefighter at Amlwch Fire Station, becoming a leading firefighter in 2001.

He had a long and dedicated career as a firefighter and now he is employed as a Compliance Officer enforcing fire safety legislation working from Ynys Môn County Office in Llangefni.

COMMUNITY AWARDS

Outstanding Contribution by an Individual

This award recognises an individual who is a member of staff who regularly works above and beyond their normal duty.

Adam Brightman is part of the Operations Team and works as an Operations Support Manager based in Rhyl.

Adam leads on a number of projects on behalf of the Operations Department and this has included being heavily involved in organising the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal ceremony.

Adam has been heavily involved in the roll out of 21 new fire appliances over the last few months, and was required to coordinate the delivery programme, as well as cascading information about the roll out to the crews on station. This project required him to work long hours, often late into the evening and at weekends.

Recently, to ensure appliance availability at a station, Adam volunteered to assist in readying a spare appliance to be available for calls as soon as possible. This involved him disrupting his weekend at very short notice when he was due to be off.

Outstanding Contribution to a Charity or Charities

This award goes to a person who has worked tirelessly throughout the year to raise money, and has given up large amounts of their own time so as to benefit others.

Keith Hulse is a Firefighter here in Rhyl Fire Station and has worked hard over the years to raise money for a number of local and national charities.

Over the last 30 years Keith has been the main influence in organising the annual bonfire and fireworks display in Rhyl. This event attracts crowds of up to 7,000 people from all over Rhyl and the surrounding areas. Not only does this event assist in preventing the public from having their own back garden displays but it also furthers the organisation's aim for the public to attend organised events.

Outstanding Contribution to the Welsh Language

This award is for the individual who has given the most over the year to promote the Welsh language within the Service.

Katy Welch is a Retained Duty System Administrative Assistant for Denbighshire and is very passionate about the Welsh Language.

Katy has been a Welsh Language Champion from the start of the initiative and strives to promote Welsh in the workplace.  She has always been very committed to her role as champion and always takes on board the advice provided for promoting Welsh to learners and is both willing and flexible in her approach.

She often undertakes additional tutorial activities over and above requirements.

Employer of the Year Award

The Employer of the Year Award is in recognition of a local employer who regularly releases staff to carry out fire fighting duties in the community. These employers are essential in assisting to keep fire appliances available across North Wales.

This year there are three winners in this category.

Colin Cross is a Crew Manager in Beaumaris Fire Station. He is self-employed running his own printing business.  His son is also a firefighter and works for him. When Beaumaris receive a call for service during the day both Colin and his son lock up and leave their work to attend.  This means that the company shuts down and Colin must then catch up with orders at another time.

Ernie Bradbury runs a garage in Barmouth.  Over the years he and many of his family and employees have served as firefighters for North Wales Fire and Rescue Service.  Many of his employees have now retired from the Service, but Ernie still has one employee who responds to calls as and when required at Barmouth Fire Station.

Abersoch Land and Sea has been an outstanding employer to a number of firefighters based at Abersoch Fire Station.  Abersoch Land and Sea allow these individuals to respond to emergencies whenever working schedules permit, often during periods of the day when historically it has been very challenging to obtain RDS cover.

Without the co-operation of these employers the station's availability could be affected as it only takes one member of the crew not to respond to make that station unavailable to attend calls within the community.

The Community Safety Partner Award

The Community Safety Partner Award is to recognise the work of partner agencies or public bodies who work effectively in partnership with North Wales Fire and Rescue Service in their quest to deliver vital community safety messages.

This year the award is shared between two organisations.

The Service has been working with Dermot O'Leary from the Welsh Ambulance Service and Meurig Jones from North Wales Police over the last few years in a campaign to promote road safety as part of the 'Deadly Mates campaign'

This campaign visits schools and colleges across North Wales where representatives from police, ambulance and fire and rescue service gave a description of road safety from each agency's perspective to the youngsters. In the last three years the presentation has been delivered to over 15,000 students.

Dermot is a Paramedic, based in Rhyl and has held various roles during his career, many of them linked to road safety. He is always more than willing to attend the road safety events.

Meurig works in the Traffic Department for North Wales Police. In recent years his role has been involved with heavy goods vehicle enforcement.  During this time he has managed to maintain his links and commitment to the Deadly Mates project in the belief that it can make a difference.

Meurig not only identifies the police role and interaction at a road traffic collision, but also explains the consequences to those at the scene.
 

The Safest Community Award

The Safest Community Award is presented to an individual, who has provided an unparalleled commitment to the Fire and Rescue Service in North Wales for the length of service as a member of the retained duty system.

This year the award goes to two people.

The first is Richard William Jones from Amlwch.

Richard joined the Service in December 1978 and has served his entire career at Amlwch Fire Station. He is currently Watch Manager in charge of Amlwch.

The second is Trevor Wynne Roberts from Harlech

Trevor joined the Service in March 1979 and has served his entire career at Harlech Fire Station.  He is currently a Crew Manager.

Staff Suggestion Scheme

The staff suggestion scheme provides an opportunity for staff to suggest new ideas or initiatives that will improve the way in which the service can be delivered more efficiently or effectively. This year we are taking the opportunity to recognise two of these suggestions.

Karen Nicholson works in the Training Department and her suggestion was to review the venues used for staff seminars by utilising Service premise to realise financial savings for the organisation.

Jodie Hamilton is a firefighter in Wrexham Fire Station and his suggestion was to implement braille on staff's identification cards. This initiative allows the Service to interact with visual impaired members of society.

Both employees are receiving a £50 cheque for their suggestions.

Outstanding Contribution by a Department

This award recognises a department that has carried out notable work during the last twelve months.

The Arson Reduction Team has been established since 2005.

Since then the team has developed a fantastic and productive working relationship with many external agencies, including North Wales Police, local authorities, schools, youth agencies and charities to name a few. These relationships are key to the success of the Arson Reduction Team's work and to the strategic priorities of North Wales Fire and Rescue Service.

During their time in the team Amanda Venables, Melanie Lawton and Lynne Jones have qualified as Crime Prevention Officers, and Fire Safe Facilitators.
Amanda and Lynne completed over 200 crime prevention site visits last year from high risk referrals.

The team has successfully piloted and rolled out a programme of Environmental Action Days. This scheme is now replicated by external agencies.