Firefighters and staff recognised for long service at special award ceremony

Individuals with a combined length of service of more than 320 years have been recognised for their commitment to Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service at a ceremony celebrating their long service this week.

A total of 12 people were recognised at the Long Service Awards at Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service headquarters based in Pirehill, near Stone, on Monday (21 October).

The recipients were handed their awards by the Lord Lieutenant Ian Dudson CBE and Chief Executive Louise Clayton from the Commissioner’s Office.

Three firefighters and a staff member were awarded for their 20-years’ service, whilst a further eight firefighters received a special clasp to acknowledge 30 years’ service.

Chief Fire Officer, Rob Barber, said: “It is an absolute honour to award these 12 members of our team for their long service, loyalty and dedication.

"Our people are at the very heart of our organisation and it’s important for us to recognise them for all they do.

“Some of the recipients are on-call firefighters who juggle family life and full time jobs around their firefighting duties to protect their local community. It’s an extraordinary commitment to do for even a short period of time, so to do it for up to 30 years is an outstanding achievement.

“It was also so pleasing to present a member of fire staff with a 20-year certificate of service. All of our fire staff play an equally important role within the service, fire staff and operational staff all work to help make Staffordshire the safest place to be.”

To find out more about joining Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service and the roles available, including on-call firefighter roles which we are recruiting for, visit: Careers | Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service.

The recipients were as follows:

• Brewood Watch Manager, Paul Danby – 30 years
• Cheadle and HQ Crew Manager, Helen Teague – 20 years
• Leek Firefighter, Maxine Richardson – 20 years
• Sandyford Firefighter, Paul Blackburne – 30 years
• Sandyford Firefighter, Martin Davies – 20 years
• Sandyford Station Manager, Rob Horton – 30 years
• Sandyford Watch Manager, Matt Sykes – 30 years
• Sandyford Firefighter, Rob Windsor – 30 years
• Stafford Station Manager, Tim Hollingworth – 30 years
• Staff member, Margaret Wood – 20 years
• Tamworth Crew Manager, Michael Varley-Griffin – 30 years
• Former Tutbury Firefighter, John Lees – 30 years.