Issue 219 - BT22 • BT23
NIFRS recruiting for On-Call Firefighters Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service (NIFRS) is calling on those who want to make a real difference in their community to become On-Call Firefighters. If you live or work within 5 minutes of your local On-Call Fire Station and you want to serve your community, we could have the role for you! On-Call Firefighters work part-time and carry a pager to alert them to emergencies in their local area. This rewarding role offers a unique opportunity to save lives, protect property, provide advice and serve your local community – all while fitting around you and your existing commitments. NIFRS offers a range of contracted hours to suit you and your lifestyle. NIFRS is recruiting for On-Call Firefighters across 43 stations in Northern Ireland, including Newtownards and Derek McClure was recently presented with the AND In Bloom Volunteer of the Year award by Mayor Alistair Cathcart and TV presenter Colin Stafford-Johnson
Newtownards volunteer helps out in Bangor Castle Walled Garden World Soil Day and International Volunteer Day were celebrated recently.
To mark the occasion, volunteers who work in Bangor Castle Walled Garden revealed why they decided to take up a volunteering role in the Garden... Derek McClure recently won the Ards and North Down In Bloom Volunteer of the Year award for his volunteering efforts. Until recently, he was a voluntary Director of
the Accept Care group of companies and was Chair of North Down YMCA, as well as volunteering on Saturdays in the Cancer Focus charity shop in Newtownards, not to mention his volunteering work in Bangor Castle Walled Garden. Derek started volunteering in various capacities around 60 years ago, when he
was 14 years old, but his hobby has always been gardening. He can recall digging in his grandfather’s garden when he was just four years old, and a few years later, his father built a greenhouse for him for his eighth birthday. “I’ve continued gardening throughout my life,” Derek said. “When the
opportunity arose to become a volunteer within Bangor Castle Walled Garden, I jumped at the chance. Not only did it allow me to develop my horticultural skills but it also allowed me to put something back into the local community.
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Portaferry. On-Call Firefighters are paid a retaining fee, emergency call-out payments and a payment to attend a weekly drill night, 2 hours per week in the evening. Our On-Call Firefighters are trained to the highest standards and take part in 12 days of training each year to ensure we have the most highly skilled Firefighters to help protect our local communities. Candidates can apply online and download application packs from NIFRS’s website at www. nifrs.org. The closing date for applications is Friday 14 February 2025 at 12noon.