Contact the Firefit Steering Group Members...
E-mail your queries to your regional Firefit Steering Group member.
If want to find out who the Health & Fitness Practitioners are in your area, share best practice, or need advice with a health related issue then simply get in touch with your area representative below;
The FireFit Steering Group Members, Harcombe House Devon. March 2007.
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Gail Cotton, Head of Occupational Health Services.
Leicestershire Fire & Rescue Service
Head of Occupational Health and Safety for Leicestershire Fire & Rescue Service providing occupational health to 20,000 local authority employees and other businesses in the East Midlands. A past President of the Association of Occupational Health Nurse Practitioners (UK).
She represents Occupational Health nurses on regional and national working groups, is on OH Journal Editorial board and lectures OH nurses at Warwick University. Also sits on professional conduct and competence panels for Nursing and Midwifery Council.
Contact Gail here.....
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Aidan Magennis, Group Commander.
Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service.
Aidan joined the Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service in 1984 and has served in Operational Stations,
Community Safety and Training. His current role is Group Commander responsible for Occupational
Health & Welfare in a Service of approx 2,300 people. He organised the Firefit conference held in
Belfast in 2004 and has been involved in the Firefit Steering Group since then. Contact Aidan here.....
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Dorileen Forbes, Occupational Fitness Advisor
Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service.
Dorileen is currently the Senior Occupational Fitness Advisor for Lothian and Borders Fire and
Rescue Service having joined in October 2006. She has been involved with the recent implementation
of Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service’s new policy on Firefighters’ Physical Fitness which
involves the routine fitness testing of all operational personnel. Other core functions of her role include, fitness training, fitness
programming and design, nutritional guidance, lifestyle guidance, first aid and manual handling
training. Dorileen graduated with a BSc (honours) degree in Applied Sports Science in 1998 from
The Moray House School of Education, she has since completed a Post Graduate Certificate of
Education at Greenwich University, and her experiences include Lecturing on a variety of Health
and Fitness courses and Teaching Physical Education. Dorileen joined the FireFit Steering Group
in 2006.
Contact Dorileen here.....
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Gary Bankhead, Watch Manager, ABAPT.
County Durham & Darlington Fire & Rescue Service.
18 Years in the Fire Service, currently serving as Operations Project Manager at Service HQ, having just spent 2 years as a Watch Manager at Consett Fire Station.
Gary assisted the Intergrated Clothing Project as a member of the Anthropometric
Study of male firefighters measuring team. He recently represented the NE Region Task Group on
health and fitness and substance missuse. Gary has a Diploma in Sports Science, YMCA & OCR Gym & Circuit instructor.
His interests include Sunderland AFC, mountain climbing, running and sub-aqua diving. You can contact Gary here..... .....Oh and this web site's web master!
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Ian Griffiths, Consultant Occupational Physician.
Nottinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service.
Ian is a Consultant Occupational Physician and has worked as such in the NHS in Nottingham since 2003.
The he is also the occupational physician for Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service. He has previously
accompanied Fire Service National Benevolent Fund charity treks and acted as the trek doctor. He tries to
practise what he preaches around healthy lifestyle by playing badminton and walking rather than driving as much as
possible (e.g. to and from the pub!) He has served on the FireFit committee since autumn 2006 and represents the
Association of Local Authority Medical Advisers on the committee. This means he can feed back the work of the
Committee to other Fire Service doctors around the UK, and seek their opinions on fitness matters.
You can Contact Ian here.....
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Clare Boyes, Operations Manager,
Harcombe House, Fire Fighters Charity.
Clare works for the Fire Fighters Charity as an Operations Manager at
Harcombe House. Clare's background is in Health and Exercise and she
worked as an Exercise Therapist at Jubilee Therapy Centre before moving
to Devon to manage the building of the therapy wing at Harcombe and the
development of therapy services there.
Clare is responsible for ensuring that the centre offers excellent
services and she participates in the development of new services across
the Charity.
You can Contact Clare here.....
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Graham Rothwell,
Manchester Fire & Rescue Service.
Graham joined the fire service as a junior fireman in 1977 - for some reason they never ran another junior course again! He served for over 20
years as an operational firefighter before moving to the Training Centre in December 2000. Graham is currently the Brigade Fitness Advisor, Brigade Rope Access Instructor as well as a Swift water Rescue Instructor. He is also a qualified Sports Massage Therapist.
Graham became the Treasurer of the Firefit Steering Group at the end of 2002 and also organised the FireFit conference in Manchester in 2003.
Contact Graham here.....
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Richard Stevenson, Senior Physical Training Adviser.
South Wales Fire & Rescue Service.
Richard is currently the Senior Physical Training Advisor for South Wales Fire & Rescue Service having joined in November of 2003. Prior to that he worked for a medical research company as a research physiologist and for the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff where he lectured exercise physiology whist studying for his MSc. in Exercise Science. Since joining the Fire & Rescue Service Richard has been involved with developing and implementing a number of strategies, which include weight management and non-uniform fitness policies. He has also qualified as a Sports Massage Practitioner with the Sports Massage Association and now offers massage therapy to all Fire Service personnel. He is presently studying at Bristol University for a Post Graduate Diploma in Physical Activity, Nutrition and Public Health. In his short time with the Steering Group, he has been involved with the new National Fire-fighter Selection tests and is very keen on raising the profile of physical fitness within all aspects of the UK Fire & Rescue Service.
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Paul Wilsher Watch Man B, H&S, STC.
Essex Fire & Rescue Service.
Paul joined Essex Fire & Rescue Service back in 1979 as a fire fighter and has served both
operationally and within the training department. He has over ten years experience as the
Service Senior Fitness Adviser and currently manages the fitness team in Essex. He has a BA
(honours) degree in Education & Training from the University of Greenwich and a MSc in Sports
Science (Health & Fitness) attained at the University of Essex. Paul' particular interest of
research is the effect of PPE on body temperature and hydration. He has represented FireFit
on the ODPM led FF point of entry selection test steering group and is particularly interested
in standardising entry and ongoing fitness testing throughout the British fire service.
Although he no longer competes Paul is a keen club swimmer and enjoys mountain biking and
running.
Contact Paul here.....
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Paul Symington, Fitness Advisor.
Somerset Fire & Rescue Service.
Paul is the Physical Training Advisor and Co-ordinator for Somerset Fire & Rescue Service having joined in April of 2003. He has been involved with developing and implementing the new fitness & health policies that includes access to fitness testing (fit for duty), training programmes for all staff, weight management, nutritional guidance, and manual handling. Prior to this position he has worked as a Health & Fitness Club Manager, Personal Fitness Trainer and Diet & Nutritional Advisor.
Paul has over twenty years experience as a participant within the fitness and health industry and competitive amateur athlete, including Wado Ryu Karate, Fencing (Epée, Royal Marine finalist), triathlon, running, indoor rowing, cycling, and extreme team events.
Paul now chairs the Southwest Fitness Group (7 SW Fire Services), and works jointly with Avon and Gloucestershire Fire Service regarding implementation of Station Fitness Advisors Training. He holds a RIPHH Diploma in Nutrition and Health including Sports Nutrition, is a member of the Register of Exercise Professionals, and is currently studying Nutritional Medicine. He has been an active member of the Steering Group since joining the Fire Service, helping to share information across the UK.
Contact Paul here.....
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Ian Hammett, Service Fitness Advisor
Bedfordshire and Luton Fire and Rescue Service.
Ian is the Service Fitness Advisor for Bedfordshire and Luton Fire and Rescue Service
and has been in post since October 2005. Ian graduated from University with BSc (Honours)
Sports Science degree and previously worked as a fitness manager. He holds qualifications
in Sports Massage Therapy from the Sports Massage association, Exercise to Music and
Pilates Instruction, as well as personnel training.
Ian’s main roles in Bedfordshire include fitness testing, providing weight management
advice and support, providing soft tissue therapy for all personnel, overseeing
Manual Handling training and implementing service wide policies to maintain the
health and wellbeing of all staff. Ian joined the steering group in July 2007
and is looking forward to driving fitness and wellbeing forward at a national level.
You can contact Ian here.....
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