The conference was opened by Chief Fire Officer Phil Garrigan, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service, and Dalvinder Rai, AFSA Chair. Both encouraged the delegates to use the conference to review existing practices and to spread key messages from what they learned from the conference and to network, share ideas and make friends.

Day One’s Enlightening Speakers

The first speaker was Levi Tafari who, through poetry, enlightened the audience with rhythm and rhyme to remind the conference of the history of Liverpool, the slave trade and the fight for racial justice.

The second speaker was Roy Wilsher, Her Majesty’s Inspector of Fire and Rescue Services. He provided an insightful view of the continuing challenges of implementing good equality, diversity and inclusion practices across the Fire and Rescue Service. He stressed the need to understand the context, focus on the ‘why’ as well as the ‘what’ and to act proportionately and make the most of staff voices.

 

Read the full article on our digital issue, pages 46-49.

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