Life in the Fire Service: Passion & Dedication

Donna Gyles first became involved with the Fire Service as a young girl and is now an Equality & Diversity Adviser with Greater Manchester Fire Service. She talks to BHM about her life and work.

BHM: Could you tell me briefly about you (career and what inspired you to join the Fire Service)?

Donna Gyles (DG): I have worked since the age of 15 but I suppose my first ‘proper job’ was with Barclays Bank (after I graduated) as a Sales and Service Adviser. Over the past ten or eleven years I have had a variety of jobs working in different industries. I’ve worked in banking, in a car showroom, debt management & IT. I spent a number of years working with children and young people as a Residential Social Worker and a Youth Offending Team (YOT) worker.

I became involved with the Fire Service through my work with the YOT. I worked with a number of Fire Fighters on our Arson Projects and gave talks to other Fire Fighters who were training to deliver Arson and F.A.C.E (Fire Awareness Child Education) programmes. I gave them an insight into how to deal with difficult situations whilst working with young people.

I think the fact that I worked with the Service and had an idea of some of the different work they did gave me the confidence to apply for the job of Equality & Diversity Trainer and Outreach Worker. My role has evolved over the past few years and I am now an Equality & Diversity Adviser with Outreach as my specialist reference.

BHM: What are the three main characteristics you have which help you succeed in your job, and why?

DG: For a job like mine I think you have to have the following Passion, Patience & Confidence

I think it is important to be passionate about what you do and believe in it. I have found that the Fire and Rescue Service (as with most public services) has its own protocols and ways of working so patience helps when trying to implement something new. Finally I have to have confidence because a lot of my role is about working with people and their ‘mind sets’. It can be about trying to open peoples’ minds and maybe even taking them out of their ‘comfort zones’. Being confident in what you are doing helps those you are working with be more confident in what you are asking them to do.

BHM: How do the male/female ratios affect working life at your particular fire service?

DG: I have a very ‘varied’ job but do spend a lot of my time at Headquarters where the majority of staff are female (although in our team of five we have two men), but then when we go out on to the stations the majority are male. To be honest it doesn’t make a lot of difference, although I will admit, when I first started going out on to stations to deliver training it was very daunting (being one of only two females in a room full of men).

I don’t feel like that any more.

BHM: What have been your most significant achievements to date?

DG: I think my most significant achievement to date has been setting up our ‘Taster Days’ programme. The aim of the days / sessions was to breakdown any misconceptions people may have had about being a Fire Fighter and to give them an insight to the job and the recruitment and selection process. It was a lot of hard work setting everything up (although I did have a lot of help from my Fire Fighters colleagues) and we started to see an increase from people from under represented groups (Women and Minority Ethnic) coming into the Service. It was really rewarding, seeing people you met on a Taster Day sitting in front of you on the Recruits course.

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