Issued on: Wednesday 7 September
FUNERAL OF CREW MANAGER PAUL WILKINS
You will now be aware of the very sad and tragic death of Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service’s Crew Manager Paul Wilkens whilst on duty at Castle Donington Fire and Rescue Station, on the morning of Tuesday 23 August 2016.
As you can imagine, this has been a particularly difficult time for everyone who knew or came into contact with Paul and our priority has been to support Paul’s partner, his children and his close family and colleagues.
Chief Fire and Rescue Officer Steve Lunn said “On behalf of the Service, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all of our communities for the support shown to Paul’s family and the fire and rescue service at this very sad time. We have been overwhelmed by the magnitude of the responses to his sad loss and the wonderful generosity shown to Paul’s family.”
“I am sure you will recognise that the loss of Paul has had a profound impact on many people, not only through his firefighting duties and work with The Prince’s Trust but also in many aspects of our wider community, with cycling, rugby and his links to the Corps of Royal Engineers.”
“We will be providing Paul with a full ceremonial funeral service that will be reflective of the loss we have all suffered, not only to the Service but also to all of the communities that we serve. Paul enriched the quality of everything he was involved in and he will be impossible to replace.”
“Members of the public who wish to pay their respects to Paul are being asked to line the route of the cortege, in particular Bridge Street in Loughborough on the final approach to the church.”
As a member of the media, we would very much appreciate your attendance and coverage of the event, but would ask that if you are intending to do so, that you contact us for a Media Briefing Pack, which will give you all of the information and guidance you will require for the day.
We will have a designated area at the church for media and we will be willing to help facilitate interviews with our Service personnel, if required – again this will have to be arranged in advance so please put any request in as soon as possible.
Thank you in advance for your time and cooperation at this very sad time for all involved, it is greatly appreciated.
ENDS
Notes to Editor
Members of the media must get a Media Briefing Pack before attending the funeral from a member of the Corporate Communications team, due to the nature of the occasion. Senior officers will be available for media work (pre-recordings), by prior arrangement through 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
