South Yorks fire station boxing club hits success

A fire service backed initiative is building links with the local gypsy traveller community and helping to drive down anti-social behaviour and reduce fires by engaging young people.

The Doncaster fire station based boxing club is proving a big hit and is one of the first partnerships of its kind anywhere in the country.

Thorne and Moorends Boxing Club meets on Tuesdays (5pm to 7pm) and Saturdays (11am to 12pm) at Thorne fire station brining together boys and girls from eight years old upwards twice a week.

Station Manager Delroy Galloway said: “Allowing one of our fire stations to be used as a venue for a boxing club is win-win. For the club, we can provide a venue for young people to take part in physical activity in a safe and structured environment. For us, we can build lasting, positive relationships with youngsters in the communities we are here to serve.”

Find out more: Watch Chief Executive of Kent FRS Ann Millington deliver the keynote address at SYFRS' 'Women's Development Conference'

South Yorkshire will further highlight their community integration by hosting the inaugural Fire & Health Conference South Yorkshire on Tuesday 16 February at Brigade Training Headquarters in Sheffield.

The event will bring together decision makers from across the health, social care, community and voluntary sectors locally to highlight the opportunities to use the FRS as an effective asset in supporting prevention work and enhance health and wellbeing provision for the communities we serve.

Confirmed speakers include Jacquie White (NHS England); Peter O’Reilly (Chief Fire Officer’s Association); Paul Harrison (Alzhiemers Society); Claire Cawkwell (RNIB) and Rupert Suckling (Doncaster Public Health) who will explore how their groups have been working together to explore how our collective organisations can encourage and deliver local action to reduce demand on health and social care systems and improve the quality of life of vulnerable people.

The role of this conference will be to determine what this means for local authorities, health bodies and the third sector in our region. Current collaborations in South Yorkshire include a range of health related programmes and projects, from co-responding with Yorkshire Ambulance Service (pictured), through to several preventative activities with third sector organisations, like Alzheimer’s Society and RNIB.

Find out more at www.syfire.gov.uk/