Firestyle Magazine Issue 1 - Autumn 2015 | Page 38

WOMEN IN THE FIRE SERVICE In early June over 150 eager delegates gathered at the 15th National Training and Development weekend with Women in the Fire Service UK (WFS) at the Fire Service College. The weekend officially began after dinner with a warm welcome by Dany Cotton, Chair of WFS as she presented the Annual WFS Awards. This was followed by an inspirational and amusing speech from keynote speaker, Claire Harvey, Paralympic GB sitting volleyball team captain. Claire spoke of the challenges she has faced and conquered after her life changing accident in 2008. The workshops Excellent facilities were provided at the Fire Service College where delegates participated in a wide range of outdoor workshops including: Multi incident scenario on the fire ground, Be a firefighter, Drive a fire appliance. The indoor classroom sessions included: Workplace stress, Introduction to coaching, Assertiveness, Emotional Intelligence and Self-Awareness, Incident command and road safety experience. Chair of WFS, Dany Cotton, said: “It’s been an amazing weekend, despite the rainy start. Upon arrival everyone took part in the outdoor ice breaker challenge in the pouring rain, which created a great amount of team building straight away. The teams set off as total strangers but ended up coming back soaking wet and laughing. 38