I recently had the great honour to attend and present awards at the annual Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service awards.
As the County Council’s Cabinet Member for Public Health and Public Protection, I know how much of an important fixture this event is in the service calendar.
It is an opportunity to highlight the work happening to protect people on a daily basis, something I have witnessed first-hand.
I was joined at the awards ceremony by His Majesty’s Vice Lord-Lieutenant of Suffolk, Robert Rous, High Sheriff of Suffolk Mark Pendlington, Councillor Keith Robinson, Chairman of Suffolk County Council, and Chief Fire Officer Jon Lacey.
Between us, we handed out more than 50 richly deserved awards, long service medals and clasps, and when you read the citations it really does bring home to you how lucky we are to have such dedicated people.
There was the team from Princes Street station that saved the life of a young woman, Watch Manager Sam Linton of Newmarket Fire Station and his colleagues, who between them have raised nearly £100,000 for the Firefighters Charity, and Watch Manager Mark Cowling who has raised more than £20,000 to provide community defibrillators to volunteer emergency services – just three examples, but there are many more.
However, the awards do not just recognise the Fire and Rescue Service. We have an exceptional Trading Standards team which has an outstanding reputation both within Suffolk and further afield.
The ceremony saw a Certificate of Merit given to Trading Standards officer Nousha Meek for her work in improving child stair gates standards.
Also receiving certificates were Senior Trading Standards Officer Claire Missen, Operational Support Officer Eun Young and Trading Standards Team 3 for their work in bringing a rogue builder to justice, while carers Paul Watts and Sally Mills of Caring Moments Ltd in Lowestoft received the same for their work in saving a 101-year-old woman from overseas ‘clairvoyant’ scammers.
Both Fire and Trading Standards are excellent examples of teams that demonstrate a ‘can do’ approach in all their endeavours, working around the clock to serve our communities.
I have been fortunate enough to visit fire stations across the county, meeting both operational and non-operational staff, and it was a pleasure to see the result of long-term plans with the opening of two new combined police and fire stations at Princes Street and Stowmarket.
I also had the privilege to attend the opening of the dedicated Fire Service Headquarters at Endeavour House, and the fantastic new training centre at Wattisham which officially opened just a few weeks ago.
Similarly, I continue to be impressed by the wide range of work from staff in the team to help protect Suffolk, whether this be looking after animal welfare, sadly very relevant today, establishing cold calling zones, bringing rogue traders to justice, halting the sale of illicit tobacco or stopping scams which target the most vulnerable in society.
Back in July, I saw just how crucial this work is, when I shared a day out with Trading Standards. I had the opportunity to see how the team protect the welfare of livestock and prevent outbreaks of animal disease.
I also witnessed how valuable their work is by stopping the sale of hundreds of dangerous vapes from across our county at the start of the year.
Finally, a special mention should go to close colleagues of the fire service, the Salvation Army volunteers.
It was a pleasure to recently invite them to the fire service headquarters and celebrate 45 years of working together.
The volunteers assist our firefighters by providing refreshments at major incidents, something which is very much appreciated when firefighters are working hard in often difficult conditions.
The awards evening was meticulously planned but in a deviation from the programme the High Sheriff presented the service with a special Certificate of Gratitude and Recognition – it was, and will continue to be, richly deserved.
Column by Councillor Andrew Reid, Suffolk County Council Cabinet Member for Public Health and Public Protection
