LEICESTERSHIRE FIRE AND RESCUE SERVICE WELCOME THE LEICESTER TIGERS FOR TEAM BUILDING EXERCISE
On Monday 14 November, the Leicester Tigers paid a visit to Central Fire and Rescue Station for a team building exercise. They saw Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service as the perfect facilitator for this exercise as they wanted to be challenged, and made to work as a team to further improve their communication and problem solving skills – something firefighters have to do on a day to day basis. During the day, they got to experience some of the tasks firefighters have to undertake during their training and whilst they’re on the job. They were in for a shock when they realised just how tough a job being a firefighter was.
Our firefighters (who volunteered to take part in the exercise on their day off) wanted to show the Leicester Tigers just how tough a job being a firefighter is, so it wasn’t all laughs and smiles. They set up exercises they knew would be a challenge, and where teamwork was essential for success. The exercises chosen were;
- fire and rescue service point of entry selection test
- smoke house search and rescue (using breathing apparatus kit)
- improvised dam construction
- high rise bridge head equipment carry
- improvised salvage drill.
When all the exercises had taken place there was a short debrief where the winning teams were announced and everyone was thanked, before a surprise challenge was revealed. In the time it took the Arial Ladder Platform (ALP) to be set up and get up to full height, the Leicester Tigers squad had to collect a number of materials and attempt to build a shelter to prevent the water from the ALP soaking them! Even though they managed to build a shelter (that’s what they wanted to call it), they still got a huge soaking by Richard Cockerill, Leicester Tigers Director of Rugby, who was in charge of the water cannon.
The relationship between Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service and Leicester Tigers is already good and we are hoping it can develop in the future. We believe that together we can improve the way we promote our community safety messages with the wider community due to the fact that the Leicester Tigers players are all fantastic role models and looked up to by many members of the public.
Steve Lunn, Chief Fire and Rescue Officer, said: “It was a great pleasure to host the Leicester Tigers team building exercise. Hopefully, this will be the first of many opportunities for our Service to partner up with great sporting teams in the city. In the future, we want our relationship to grow and lead to better engagement with people and communities so that we are all safer and aware of the many risks we face on a day to day basis.”
“On behalf of the whole Service, I would just like to say a huge thank you to Richard and the Tigers for joining us, and we really hope you enjoyed the event.”
Richard Cockerill, Director of Rugby at Leicester Tigers, said: “The spirit in the squad is really good and to come to the Central Fire and Rescue Station, to get involved with the firefighters and roll our sleeves up, really adds to that.”
“Thank you to Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service for allowing us to come down and get a feel for what they do and how they do things. It was a bit of an eye-opener for a lot of the boys.”
“The squad really enjoyed it and were made to feel welcome from the moment we arrived. It was good for us in terms of team-building, communication and problem-solving, and helps us emphasise those messages to the players.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
A selection of images from the day are available via Corporate Communications.
About the Service
Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service provides emergency response, prevention and protection services from 20 stations across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland. Its headquarters is based in Birstall, Leicester.
The Service’s prevention, education, enforcement and inspection programmes have resulted in significant reductions in the number of incidents. In the last five years, fire related incidents have reduced by 32.6 percent.
During 2014/15, the Service attended 619 road traffic collisions, of which 155 were extrications freeing 194 people trapped inside their vehicles and completed 4316 home fire safety checks, fitting almost 4339 smoke alarms. Staff organised or supported almost 1590 events aimed at promoting fire and road safety and arson prevention, whilst also visiting 314 schools to deliver fire and road safety education to pupils.
Contact:
Dominic Halliday
Communications and Digital Media Administrator
0116 2292178
dominic.halliday@lfrs.org
