19/7/2006 - Media opportunity: Room for everyone at Workington fire station

A new state of the art community safety training facility based inside Workington fire station is set to be unveiled. 

Thanks to a £55,000 investment from the government’s Community Safety Innovation Fund, a new high-tech classroom has been set up within the station on King Street. This will enable the Fire and Rescue Service to invite community groups into the station and provide them with important community safety information. It will also be available free of charge to local schools, clubs and neighbourhood groups who in return will receive a basic fire or road safety message.

The official opening takes place on Friday 21 July at the town's fire station where print and broadcast media are invited to attend to see the new facility and watch a group of Workington school pupils take part in a Fire and Rescue Service Experience Day.

The room, which boasts a plasma screen, DVD player and modern teaching-desks, will be set up on the day to show how the Fire and Rescue Service intends to get its important safety messages across to people in the Workington area.

At 12:15pm, Cumbria's Chief Fire Officer Bernard Dolan will explain how the new community safety room will play a key role in helping to make people safer in their homes and on the county's roads.

Workington MP Tony Cunningham will officially open the new the training room at 12:30pm. 

At 1:00pm, pupils aged 13-16 from St Joseph's Catholic High School, Southfield Technology College and Stainburn School will be given an interactive road safety training session in the station's new community safety room. As part of their visit to the station, pupils will also get the chance to take part in hose drills, fitness tests, ladder drills and some of the other activities which firefighters have to go through as part of their regular training. 

There will be a media opportunity to talk to the young people as they experience the station's new training facility and Cumbria Fire & Rescue Service’s Chief Fire Officer Bernard Dolan will be available for interview.

"This is a terrific new facility for Workington which will give the Fire and Rescue Service   an excellent opportunity to push its important community safety message to even more people and build upon its growing community involvement," said Chief Fire Officer Bernard Dolan.

"By creating this valuable new training facility for local schools and neighbourhood groups, the Fire and Rescue Service has shown its determination build on its work to make prevention better than cure when it comes to community safety."

Local groups and schools wanting to book   Workington fire station's new high-tech classroom can call the station's Community Safety Coordinator Sally Scales 01900-609526.