A viral safety campaign, raising the bar for diversity, and a huge charity drive scooped a plethora of awards at this year’s Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service Celebrating Success event.
The 14th annual event was held at Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service Headquarters, Eastleigh, on Thursday, 21st November.
The Innovation of the Year Award was won by Katie Round from Community Safety for the Amber’s Warning campaign which ran at the beginning on 2019.
Earlier in the year, the Community Safety and Media and Communications Teams produced Amber’s Warning, a campaign — led by Katie Round — aimed at raising awareness of the dangers of unsupervised cooking.
With the short film being shared across social media, Amber’s story was told with the intention that others will think twice before leaving cooking unattended.
It was viewed more than 120,000 times. One post reached 12,000 engagements alone and was shared a further 300 times.
The campaign has also been shared by social media experts and numerous other fire and rescue services across the country.
Dalvinder Rai collected the Partnership of the Year Award for the Asian Fire Service Association (AFSA), which she became chairman of in June.
This year’s Chief’s Team of the Year was awarded to Tadley Fire Station for their ongoing fundraising achievements.
They contributed to The Fire Fighters’ Charity through events like a sponsored stretcher carry, car washes, the Three Peaks Challenge, and supporting ‘One Lads Challenge’ cycle rides.
Further awards included the Sports and Social Association Award won by Matthew Rowe, the North Group Chair, for his efforts in promoting membership of the association in the north of the county.
The Charity Award was given to the team behind the Round the Island Kayak Event, an annual event which has raised £30,000 for The Fire Fighters Charity and the RNLI since 2012.
Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority chairman Chris Carter said: “It is always an honour to attend this event and celebrate the astonishing achievements of the Service. I am amazed and humbled by the inspiring stories behind these awards.
