Target Fire Protection Hosts an Industry Insight Event at Hollingworth Academy

On Wednesday, 2nd July, our Director Richard Harris and Service Technician Jon Crabtree partnered with Hollingworth Academy to offer an Industry Insight Event, volunteering to educate students on the fire safety industry. This effort was part of the Greater  Manchester Baccalaureate (MBacc), which aims to create clear paths into work and technical education for students, ensuring young people have equal opportunities for success by connecting them with successful employers.

This included information about careers in fire safety engineering, the necessary skills and qualifications, and the potential pathways into the industry through post-16 options, building young people’s confidence around their future options. We informed the students of career pathways, such as the trajectory of a service technician. The job enables the pursuit of a level 3 qualification in fire alarms, and level 3 and level 4 qualifications in fire assessing. Through this, employees could choose to gain a degree in fire engineering, presenting the value of a technical education as a source of both formal qualifications and work experience. We also were able to educate students on the nuances of the fire safety industry, such as the difference between active fire protection (measures which react to the fire) and passive fire protection (building preventative measures), teaching young people about the variations of career pathways, which they may not have previously considered.

A booklet was provided to help the pupils learn about the range of fire safety services Target Fire provides, as well as the career paths and skills required to enter the fire protection industry.

This was followed by a fire safety demonstration, providing students with extremely valuable information of how to manage potentially dangerous situations and providing them with skills to support them throughout the rest of their lives. By educating students on how to use fire extinguishers, we enabled the education and skill development of students in the crucial knowledge surrounding fire safety. These demonstrations included handling potential malfunctions, demonstrating the importance of regular service and the necessity of fire safety professionals. Our informal Q&A with the students built a welcoming environment through which we could dismiss uncertainty concerning the fire safety industry.

The morning was praised as “brilliant” by participants, opening the hope for further outreach, as we are dedicated to giving back to our local community. There seems to be “a real appetite for this kind of engaging, practical insight” among students, increasing the practical awareness of career options, which allows students to learn about their post-16 options, engaging a sense of autonomy and direction.

We hope to participate further in similar initiatives to support the young people of Rochdale in enabling future successes and helping combat uncertainty surrounding their opportunities after secondary school.