Marilyn Heaven, Kidde Sales Administration Manager, who is dealing with Fire Brigades on a daily basis, at the Ceremony

SYFRS Fire Tender

Local Initiatives Rewarded

The innovative approach taken by the South Yorkshire Hot Spots Partnership pan-agency initiative has been recognized in the 2009 South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Awards. The Partnership received the Best Community Partner, South Yorkshire Award, from Marilyn Heaven of event sponsors Kidde Fyrnetics, at a recent presentation ceremony held at Doncaster Racecourse.

The South Yorkshire Hot Spots scheme is a partnership between South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue, , South Yorkshire Primary Care Trusts, local authorities, the Pension Service and the South Yorkshire Energy Efficiency Advice Centre. It provides a simple referral system between all partners, using individual ‘customer-facing’ staff to highlight a range of different services to customers.  This will enable vulnerable households to access a wider range of services, ultimately resulting in health and personal safety benefits.

For example, firefighters carrying out Home Fire Safety Risk Assessments will also complete a simple form with the client to see if they need advice on other unrelated areas such as energy savings or benefit entitlement.  A request for information is then forwarded to the appropriate partner organisation to make contact with the customer. It is expected that this pan-agency scheme will increase the number of homes receiving fire safety checks, benefit entitlement checks, energy efficiency advice, grant uptake and support with stopping smoking.

Kidde Fyrnetics - lead sponsor of the 2009 South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Awards – is the world’s largest manufacturer of smoke, heat and CO alarms, supplying fire & rescue services throughout the UK and Ireland. Visit: Kidde's ‘ Fire & Rescue Services’ link for more information. (Irish Fire Services link)