Driving Change with the Fire Services

09/03/2010

Public Achievement has just begun a new and exciting project with the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service, and the Fire Services in the six border counties of the Irish Republic. This is our first large-scale collaboration with public bodies, and has received over one million pounds in funding from the European Interreg IVa programme. The focus of the project is on road safety in border communities, and Public Achievement is in a leading role, employing project staff, training fire fighters in civic youth work, and supporting projects for young people in border communities.

The project is a collaboration involving the Northern Ireland Departments of Health Social Services and Public Safety, and Finance and Personnel, as well as the Irish Department of the Environment, Heritage, and Local Government and the Department of Finance. The project will also get support from CAWT (Co-operation and Working Together), a cross-border health body.

The project has two main parts. The fire services will be involved in training around response to road traffic accidents in border areas - including specialised FPOS (First Person on Scene) and extrication training. Fire Fighters will also be involved in job-shadowing and cross-border planning. The other part of the project is focused on young people. 17 - 25 year old males are at highest risk of being involved in road traffic accidents - and the project will focus on helping young drivers and their peers to understand their driving behaviours and the potential consequences. This aspect of the project will be driven by the young people's interests and concerns, with fire fighters training as coaches to work with the young people. An 'Angels' programme, will focus on young women, both as drivers in their own rights and as peers of young male drivers. Another component of the project will focus directly on young male drivers and learners and their families.

Five staff will be employed through the project and based in Armagh - including a Project Manager, Administrator, Project Officer and two Technical Officers seconded from the Fire Services north and south of the border. This team will run the project with assistance from other Public Achievement staff - in particular the Training Officer Sean Pettis, and the Director, Paul Smyth.

We are very excited about this new project and its potential impact on the lives and wellbeing of citizens of border communities - and in particular young drivers and their communities. For regular updates on the project, please check out the Driving Change project page on our site. You can also sign up for a Driving Change Ezine (newsletter) here.

PUBLIC DISCUSSION