Firefighters Receive Certificates

Ten students from Cockermouth School have completed the Young Fire Fighters Scheme at Cockermouth Fire Station.   The scheme aims to support young people in reaching their potential through fire service related activities. The course ran for a series of 9 sessions from November to January testing the mental and physical capacities of the Young Fire Fighters – all from Year 10.

The scheme was organised and delivered by the Fire Fighting Team at Cockermouth Fire Station, which included Paul Grisedale, David Rushton, David Cavanagh, Mike Todhunter, John Turnbull, Rob Hogan and Adele Sowerby. Paul Grisedale said that the Cockermouth School team was one of the best groups he had worked with on YFF Scheme. The youngsters carried out and completed all the tasks with enthusiasm, which included hose running, using breathing apparatus, cutting a person out of a car, pitching ladders to the first floor of the drill tower, ground monitoring, first aid and CPR.

Jemma Foster, Head of Year 10 at Cockermouth School said, “This is a great opportunity for our youngsters and I am very proud of their efforts. The parents were immensely impressed by the pupils’ precision, determination and commitment in completing their designated tasks. Another group of students from Cockermouth School are starting the same course and they will have big shoes to fill, but I am sure they are up to the challenge. This is an excellent scheme and we are very grateful to the organisers for their commitment to the students.”

At the end of the course, the Young Fire Fighters participated in a Passing Out Parade, which gave them the opportunity to demonstrate the skills they had learned to an audience of staff and parents. Assistant Chief Fire Officer, Justin Johnston presented the YFFs with their completion certificates at the end of their parade.