A fire safety scheme run by Herts FRS volunteer manager Roy Aldwin gained national recognition when he was shortlisted at the prestigious Guardian Public Services awards.

The 47 year-old has worked in the emergency services for nearly 30 years starting as a special constable with Hertfordshire Police at 19, progressing to become crime reduction manager in 2000 before taking a secondment with Herts Fire and Rescue in 2007 and creating the highly successful fire safety community volunteer scheme.

Under Aldwin's direction, the number of volunteers has grown to 100 fire safety support staff who help firefighters with community safety engagement work and give out fire safety advice, a service which Herts CFO Roy Wilsher described as "invaluable".

Despite losing out to prison officer Dave Darmell of HMP Norwich for the "Public Servant of the Year Award", Aldwin was thrilled just for his work to be acknowledged.

"I was absolutely thrilled to even be shortlisted," he said. "I've had a lot of people getting in touch with me to say how pleased they were I was in the running up against some fantastic contenders."

"I've been very lucky during my career in public service, it's a real privilege to work in the fire service and to get this acknowledgement."

Local Cabinet Member for Community Safety, Richard Thake, also endorsed Aldwin's efforts as he said: "Roy may have narrowly missed out on the win, but it is still a real honour to make the shortlist for this gold standard award and we are proud of him."

Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service were also acknowledged at the event as they won the Citizenship and Volunteering Award for their Post Fire Support Team, a volunteer clean up service who help the main crew during minor domestic incidents.

 

More information about Herts fire safety volunteer scheme is available here  

Posted 24/11/11 at 1700 by richard.hook@pavpub.com