FIREFLY helps Rochdale youths

Eight youths from Rochdale who are on the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service FIREFLY (Fire Service Interaction, Response and Education to improve the Future Lives of Young people) course will be staging a ‘passing out’ display at Littleborough Fire Station at 1:30 pm on Friday 16 March 2007. The youths are all from the Rochdale Borough and are a culturally diverse group.

The Mayor of Rochdale, local councillors, parents/guardians, partner agencies and representatives from the local authority, will attend the parade.

The FIREFLY initiative, delivered by Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, provides an intensive 5-day work experience for young people aged between 13 -17years.  This particular course is being funded by the Pride Partnership Cohesion Group chaired by Councillor Ali, with the aim of promoting cohesion amongst the diverse communities within the Borough.

Fire Service Borough Commander for Rochdale, Dave Astley, said: “This course demonstrates the contribution that fire service initiatives can make to wider youth inclusion and community cohesion agendas and I would like to thank the Pride Partnership for their support with this course.”

The project provides a rigorous programme within a disciplined, uniformed team where the young people learn first aid and basic fire fighting skills, develop team building skills, and learn about the dangers of arson and hoax calls as well as the consequences of other forms of anti-social behaviour. 

FIREFLY focuses on positive outcomes, instils discipline, team spirit, and teaches life skills and values as well as fire and home safety awareness.

The numbers attending on each course are kept small to ensure each individual receives the one to one training that is required. As participants undertake each aspect of the course they build up a portfolio of evidence that contains certificates and photographs of each element of their week. This can then be presented to potential employers or further education providers.