Atherstone youngsters should glow with pride
Youngsters in Atherstone should be glowing with pride on Sunday 10 December at a special event to celebrate them passing a key part of their Duke of Edinburgh Silver Awards.
The 16 and 17-year-olds have been taking part in a wide range of exciting activities and learning firefighting skills with the crew from Atherstone Fire Station as part of the ‘service’ section of their Awards.
The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is a voluntary, non-competitive programme of activities for young people. The ‘service’ section of the award, which is about helping people in the community, involves the youngsters spending time with and learning skills from local firefighters.
Sunday’s event, which will take place at Atherstone Fire Station at 12 noon, will see the ten youngsters demonstrate their firefighting skills to the Deputy Mayor of North Warwickshire, Councillor Wendy Smitten and Consort, Councillor Richard Hobbs and Councillor Leslie Forsyth, as well as parents, guardians and teachers. They will then receive certificates of their achievement from County Fire Officer, William Brown.
Andy Bates, Temporary Watch Manager at Atherstone Fire Station, said: “Getting involved in the Duke of Edinburgh Awards is part of Warwickshire Fire & Rescue’s commitment to young people in the local community.
“The youngsters come down to the fire station for about two hours a week and learn about all sorts of subjects from road traffic collisions to environment protection. We also train them how to use breathing apparatus, carry out home fire safety checks and basic firefighting skills.
“These are all extremely good kids who have performed really well on the course and been a credit to themselves and their families. Quite a few of them have expressed an interest to go on and complete the Gold Award.”
Most of the youngsters are from Queen Elizabeth School in Atherstone and the surrounding areas.