Page 13 - July 2017

LONDON FIRE BRIGADE FIRE CADETS – A YEAR IN REVIEW
LFB Cadets in front of National Firefighters Memorial & St Pauls
Reflecting back over the last year, everyone at LFB Fire Cadets would all agree that it has been equally exciting as it has been challenging for everyone involved in the programme. We have made some huge leaps forward in terms of the partnerships that we have developed with other agencies and organisations, and the incredible support and sponsorship that we are receiving from our new ‘friends’ has enriched the programme further and allowed us to develop new ideas and future plans. These collaborations are an integral part of securing the future of LFB Fire Cadets and we are grateful to every one of our partners.
There have been some key milestones over the past year that we are extremely proud of:
We now have 12 Fire Cadet units located in different boroughs across London. We have 149 young people aged between 14-17 completing their initial year as LFB Fire Cadets. We have 52 ‘Graduate’ Fire Cadets completing their 2nd or even 3rd year with the programme as peer educators; We have a growing pool of over 100 adult Volunteer Cadet Instructors from within London Fire Brigade and from the local community helping us deliver the programme. We have further developed the ‘Graduate Fire Cadet programme’ so that our Graduate Cadets can achieve a second BTEC qualification during their time with us, We have an impressive diversity record with 42% of our young people and 27% of our adult volunteers on the programme being female. We are embedding a new Fire Cadet
FIRE CADETS
‘Ambassador’ role into the Graduate programme at the levels of Assistant Commissioner and Deputy Assistant Commissioner and Group Manager, to support the Top Management Group within London Fire Brigade at prestigious events and be the ’youth voice’ for the development of the Fire Cadet programme. With the help of one of our partners CVQO, we have started to develop the ‘Volunteer Leader’ role, to enable some of our volunteers to lead at their own Cadet units if they want to, and gain an Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) nationally recognised qualification for the role that they perform. 2016 also saw London Fire Brigade celebrating its 150th year supporting and protecting the communities of London. As such, numerous key events have taken place across London to celebrate this milestone, and the Fire Cadets and volunteers have played a huge role in the delivery of these events representing the Brigade fantastically.
For the first time this year one of our original Cadets that joined us aged 15 when the volunteer Fire Cadet programme first started in 2013, has now commenced training to be an LFB Firefighter. Well done to our trailblazer and an amazing young man, Jack Luscombe!
Jess Patten
Deputy Youth Engagement Manager. London Fire Brigade
Follow us on twitter @LondonFire1666
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