Recruit Remote Mentorship LFB

[Rory-495]

Evening all

I've been approached by LFB alongside a number of other recently trained and competent qualified firefighters to take on a form of mentoring role to recruits currently in training school

I believe the idea is to provide a point of contact for recruits to ask questions about training, station life and general enquiries outside of the course as well as general encouragement.

I'm curious to know if anyone else has been approached or if any other brigades do this?

I personally think it's a good idea to give a bit of extra help for recruits in addition to the training they receive. I think the aim is to be remote and simply provide a phone number/email for them to contact you. My old regiment had a similar scheme at catterick to help recruits there and they saw the number of recruits passing increase dramatically (obviously it's a tougher course in the infantry)

[Messyshaw]

I hope there will be no ageism demonstrated in filling this role, as I left training school 43 years ago and am happy to help!!

Nobody knows more about technical stuff like:

• escape ladders, percolating fire hose, foam tables, Proto BA, slate rips and the useless 'aircraft location board'.

And more useful & practical stuff like

• making 1lb of mince stretch to feed 12 hungry firefighters, managing your sick leave to get the maximum days off,  and how to stay dry during water fights

 

How do I apply???????

[Airze]

Start my LFB training on 23rd could always use the help lol

[Rory-495]

You may well be assigned someone by then. Not sure how soon it will be put in place

And messy... while I'm not sold on the currency of your technical training school knowledge, I could see the benefit in more senior firefighter input to maintain LFB standards, tradition and history. We had that hammered into us in the army (I can still recite our battle honours, famous former regiment members etc.) And it really made you feel part of the family. I feel this is something that LFB lacks at times

[Magga110]

Yea i had the email mate,

happy too put my name in the mix

[Rory-495]

You should get a call following it up pal. Not sure when it's starting

[LFB92]

Personally I think whilst in training they should concentrate on training. They will ask questions about station life but every watch does things different so it’s almost pointless. Maybe if they had more London trainers they could give more specific advice to those about to join station

[Rory-495]

With reference to more london trainers, about 20 or so LFB staff have just started as day 6/7 trainers along with a few full time seconded staff

With the questioning, I think that's one aspect of their curiosity that can be quickly answered and left. I know on my course we studied hard and worked hard but obviously still had a lot of extra questions that didn't necessarily fit the syllabus/role of the instructors 

[Aspire]

21 hours ago, LFB92 said:

Personally I think whilst in training they should concentrate on training. They will ask questions about station life but every watch does things different so it’s almost pointless. Maybe if they had more London trainers they could give more specific advice to those about to join station

Couldn't disagree more, we need to be preparing them for station from the application process and during training.

Most of the trainers either served years ago or in another Brigade, not the most ideal people to give that certain element of preparation. Also, some trainers are less approachable, so having somebody informal outside of that circle could prove key. I’m completely for it!

Also, despite the name of the thread, its important to mention this is a ‘buddy’ system, not a mentorship (which requires alot more input).

[LFB92]

Hence why I thought they should have more ex/serving London trainers. Appears to be the case though as Rory mentioned. 
 

I would prefer to see a couple of serving London firefighters come down to Harrow in the trainees last week and have a group conversation with the course. Leave the instructors outside for an hour or so and have all the questions answered that way.

[Rory-495]

We do welcome the recruits into the station on their second to last day on the course.  We try to give them as much of a heads up as possible but only so much you can do in an hour, especially if you get a shout

But having a periodic visit by some firefighters or officers would be welcome. Almost like a welfare check sort of thing to make sure everyone's on the right track 

[Out In The Past]

11 hours ago, LFB92 said:

Hence why I thought they should have more ex/serving London trainers. Appears to be the case though as Rory mentioned. 
 

I would prefer to see a couple of serving London firefighters come down to Harrow in the trainees last week and have a group conversation with the course. Leave the instructors outside for an hour or so and have all the questions answered that way.

That would be a good additional imo but inevitable only until the firefighter gets run for saying something that one of the squad gets offended by and tells the instructors. 

[ChrisW]

In addition to the buddy/ mentorship being discussed are trainees made aware of the support offered by the Brigade's Equality Support Groups?

Currently there are:

• Disability Working Group (DWG)
• Asian Fire Service Association (AFSA)
• United MINDs- mental health support group
• Emerald Society – Irish Group
• Fairness – BAME Group
• LGBT+ – Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity / Expression
• Women in the Fire Service (WFS)
• Menopause Action Group (MAG)
• Black & Ethnic Minority Members (B&EMM) – FBU Group
• Women Advisory Committee (WAC) – FBU Group

Each of these groups offer peer support across the organisation and are made up from all employment groups. 
The group I'm involved in, UnitedMINDs, is a network trying to break down the stigma of poor mental health, encouraging more open discussions around the subject; offering peer support and signposting to staff experiencing poor mental health, directly or as a carer.

Many people find their time in training challenging...learning new skills, uncertainty, adapting to a new role and knocks to confidence can all have an impact on personal resilience so if any of you find that you are less able to "bounce back" or are struggling, a friendly chat may just help.

[Rory-495]

I believe (I was) they are made aware of and have the contact details of these groups supplied at the start of the course 

In terms of this:

6 hours ago, Out in the past said:

That would be a good additional imo but inevitable only until the firefighter gets run for saying something that one of the squad gets offended by and tells the instructors. 

Apparently there will be some for of training/orientation for the Buddy's. I'm guessing it will be a "Do this, dont do this and for the love of god never do that!" Kinda chat

[Aspire]

7 hours ago, Out in the past said:

That would be a good additional imo but inevitable only until the firefighter gets run for saying something that one of the squad gets offended by and tells the instructors. 

I’d hope the level of professionalism from those that volunteer would mean there is nothing to worry about. We should all be able to carry out this role without the need to say something offensive, sadly, this isn’t always the case.

Yes, trainees are made aware of the support groups. 

[Rory-495]

We all hope that everyone has that level of professionalism, but I've come across enough in my short time to know that they would need reminding

[Charlie_]

What I personally found difficult coming from training onto station was the assumed knowledge.
My watch assumed I knew what a message was and how the watch room operated, when in fact I didn’t know the slightest about either of them. 

I can see the benefit of asking your ‘buddy’ rather than your watch in some instances as they know, what you don’t know, if that makes sense? 

[Messyshaw]

What on earth is going on here?

I have to say this all sounds a bit snowflakeish to me. 

Part of the method of getting to know your watch is asking questions, 'failing' sometimes and not knowing the smaller details of station life.

Like a new hesitant driver who has just torn their L plate up, you will get there

Any watch that expect a trainee fresh out of the box to understand watchrooms or messages is either thick, led by bullies or winding you up.

This scheme may be useful for some, but what sort of society are we producing when a trainee expects someone to wipe their arse and tie their shoe laces for them? 

[Rory-495]

I believe the buddy system should be more aimed at recruits in training. Realistically any recruit on a watch should be theirs to develop into a competent firefighter.

As messy says, the watch is where you make the mistakes, learn station nuances and procedures to get you settled in. 

I made some howlers of mistakes when I started. I knew what I had from training school would be a foundation but for all intent and purposes you are going to a new training school when you get on station