The London Fire Brigade are to open a brand new cadet unit at Harrow Fire Station it has been announced.
The new unit, which will be based at the station on Pinner Road, is set to open in January 2023 with the Brigade looking for youngsters across the borough aged 13 to 17 to sign up.
London Fire Brigade operate with 16 Fire Cadets per unit per academic year, with each unit running from 6pm to 9pm one evening per week. The Harrow unit will run on a Monday evening starting in January.
The new unit will open giving youngsters the opportunity to use real fighting equipment, learn firefighting techniques and take part in exciting opportunities across the borough such as parades and community events.
Since its inception, ninety Cadets and volunteers have progressed onto employment within the London Fire Brigade with a further ten Fire Cadets and Volunteer Cadet Instructors progressing onto employment with other Fire & Rescue Services. Over 2,000 young people have passed out as Fire Cadets since it’s creation.
The cadets play a key at Firefighter memorial events, Remembrance Sunday parades, the London Marathon, the London Fire Brigade Carol Concert, Queen’s Golden Jubilee and London Fire Brigade training exercises.
The Fire Cadets main purpose is to develop the key transferable life skills every young person needs to achieve and succeed in life. This is achieved through completing team building exercises and command tasks, alongside the young people learning a full syllabus of operational firefighting skills and conducting 3 social action projects within each local community to provide support and fundraise. Cadets will complete a National Fire Cadets qualification, whilst learning all aspects of the London Fire Brigade.
Susan Jeffery, Lead Cadet Instructor at Harrow said: “Fire Cadets is a driven, dynamic, innovative, inclusive, and forward-looking youth provision within the London Fire Brigade, which supports young people within all 32 London Boroughs and the City of London.
“Due to the pandemic, we were unable to open a unit in Harrow but we are delighted to announce that we are doing so, starting in January 2023.
“This is an amazing opportunity for young people in the Area & for as The London Fire Brigade to expand our youth Services into Harrow.
“We are currently recruiting young people, so if you are between 13 & 17 years old and you want to gain real-world skills, make lots of new friends, learn to work as a team, and have a lot of fun along the way, please contact us.”
