HELENSBURGH'S first Young Firefighters unit is up and running – and the fire officers who are leading the group say they've been delighted at the response they've had from young people so far.

The unit was established at the town's fire station in August after a successful appeal for the funding needed to get the group off the ground.

The Advertiser reported earlier this year on plans to set up a Young Firefighters group, based at the South King Street fire station, with the aim of equipping some of the town's young people with some of the basic skills needed to be a firefighter – as well as giving them a grounding in some of the general skills they'll need when they leave school.

The volunteer-staffed unit is being led by John Fraser, who retired last year as the watch manager for the retained firefighters' unit in Helensburgh after 35 years in the fire service.

John said: “The kids are so enthusiastic it's unbelievable. They've been going back to school the next day and telling their friends how good it's been, and we've been getting more and more people applying as a result.

“I think your article in the Advertiser was quite influential in getting the first kids to apply.

“We're aiming to have 20 kids in the unit and I don't think it'll take us long to get to that number.”

In their first few weeks the group's members received their dress uniform and personal protective equipment (PPE), before being given a demonstration on basic CPR life-saving techniques with the help of 'Resusci-Annie', the dummy who'll be familiar to anyone who's ever undergone resuscitation training.

They've also been trained in the right roll-call techniques and received an introduction in how to use one of the most vital pieces of equipment for any firefighter – the fire hose.

As is the case with any uniformed organisation for young people, those leading the new Helensburgh group are keen to stress that they're not trying to recruit a new generation into firefighting.

Stuart McDonald, watch manager and local authority liaison officer with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS), said: “This is not about training kids to be firefighters – at the moment we don't actually need to recruit firefighters.

“This is about teaching young people important life skills.

“The basis of the unit will be SFRS-driven, but we're looking to get lots of different professionals in to speak to the young people in the uni, such as prospective employers, other uniformed services and others who can show them useful skills.”

The Helensburgh group will also draw on the successes of other Young Firefighter units elsewhere – most notably in Dumbarton, where a very successful group has been running for the last 15 years.

Among the helpers at the early sessions run by the Helensburgh unit has been 17-year-old Elli Dillon, one of the watch managers in the Dumbarton unit.

Elli, who hopes to pursue a career as a graphic designer, said: “My mum works in the fire service and introduced me to the Young Firefighters unit in Dumbarton.

“I was really quiet before I joined the unit – I never spoke much to people outside of school, and used to get my mum to ask for things for me, because I never had the confidence to do it myself.

“But over the years in the cadets I've grown into myself and picked up lots of useful skills, and now I'm a watch manager for my crew.”

The Dumbarton unit is also lending some equipment to the Helensburgh group to enable them to get up and running – but there are other things the Helensburgh group hopes to pick up from their Dumbarton counterparts too.

Stuart continued: “The Dumbarton unit has five 'colour' watches – on every shift there'll be a watch manager and a crew manager, and once the Helensburgh kids are a bit better established, they'll be taking charge of their own unit.

“Application forms will go out to our own young people, and it's up to the kids whether they fancy going for that promotion.

“The Dumbarton unit has lots of people who have moved on to other things after spending time in the unit – some have gone on to be paramedics, some teachers, and we've had a handful of firefighters too.

“Being in the unit gives them a test of what life will be like when they leave school and look for full-time employment.

“Once we start the full training programme here, we're hoping to link it in to the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework, and if our young people stick with the unit until they're 18, they'll end up with a qualification too.”

The Young Firefighters operation will build on the links established with local young people over the last few months through two week-long 'Fire Reach' courses run in conjunction with Hermitage Academy.

On each of those, a group of 10 Hermitage pupils selected with the help of school staff spent a week learning basic firefighting techniques as well as important life skills for use at school and beyond.

All the participants on the Fire Reach courses received 'Dynamic Youth' certificates in recognition of their efforts.

And the community aspect of the Helensburgh operation doesn't begin and end with Fire Reach or the Young Firefighters.

Lending a hand as a volunteer with the unit is Helensburgh resident Morna McPartland, formerly a member of the retained firefighting unit at the station – and Stuart and John are hoping to attract more people from a wider cross-section of the community to help run the unit.

They are also hoping to convert a part of the administrative side of the station, one no longer used from day to day, into a community hub for use by 'third sector' organisations in the Helensburgh area.

That, they hope, will strengthen links with community groups which might be able to pass on important new skills to the young firefighters themselves.

“Working with our other community partners is key to developing this space into a community hub for Helensburgh,” Stuart added.

“There are already other uniformed organisations in Helensburgh for local young people, but the interest we've had in our first few weeks shows there's obviously still a need.”