The Trust appeared at the Emergency Services Show this year for the first time. Jim Owen tells us why the Trust were there and how things went.
Why did the Trust attend the Show?
“We think the Show is the premier annual exhibition for the Blue Light Services and certainly for the fire and rescue service, so there are are lots people from the sector who attend. We were conscious that we had new grants to offer to people and it seemed a great opportunity to talk to people face to face about them. I’ve talked to lots of people, many of whom had heard of thew Trust but few understood the range of opportunities that a grant from the Trust can provide for.
“This year, the Trustees have agreed a new approach and four grant types that will help people see how the Trust can help them to learn, research and share what they know and help keep the UK FRS amongst the best in the world. We also wanted to find out how we could further support other organisations through collaborations and to showcase our new website.”
Was attending the Exhibition worthwhile?
“Absolutely, we had lots of interest from organisations who could see how we might support them with shared objectives and we spoke to many individuals who could see how our scholarship award or research fellowship award would support their personal development.
“I’m sure there are lots of good projects that the Trust will support over the next couple of years and if anyone has any ideas they want to explore I’d encourage them to contact us for a chat. I’m also hoping that as more people visit our new website, they’ll have ideas for how the website could be used to support the research and training communities across the fire sector.
“I’m sure we’ll be back at the show in future.”