To promote the Blue Light Academy programme, which offers fully-funded skills training to emergency services workers in Greater Manchester, Seetec Outsource hosted an event at Friends Meeting House in central Manchester on Wednesday the 5th April.
Alongside promoting the courses, the event gave local media the chance to interview prominent speakers on the programme, such as Jeannette Jackson, Director of Manchester Stress Institute; Tony Morgan, Station Manager at Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service and Richard Webb-Stevens, a paramedic for London Ambulance Service who has provided some of the content for the BSL course offered through the programme.
Richard gave a live demonstration of some of the basics of the BSL programme, including teaching attendees how to say the name and the way to describe pain. He explained why this course is so important for emergency service workers: “Communication is a really big part of everyone’s life. Roughly there are a quarter of a million deaf BSL users in the UK and on top of that one in every five people have some kind of hearing issue. Through the Skills for Growth programme and this BSL course, we are improving access for learning sign language and giving people some basic signs to use in emergency situations. This will improve the lives of not just the potential patient, but also the leaner themselves and the people around them.”
It was Jeannette Jackson who approached Richard to provide some of the teaching for the BSL programme, which is one of several courses the Manchester Stress Institute provides within the Blue Light Academy programme. Jeannette outlined their full offering: “We are wellbeing experts; the programmes that we provide include ‘Beat the Burnout’, ‘Adult Mental Health’ and an ‘Anxiety, Trauma and Recovery Workshop’. The aim is to upskill everyone within the emergency services so that they can enjoy their job, they arrive at work fit for purpose but also that they can enjoy their home life as well.”
The Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) are one of the organisations who are enrolling staff onto the programme and Tony Morgan spoke about why he believes the programme can benefit individuals working in Fire and Rescue. “In the Fire Service, we do training from the day you join to the day you finish; as an officer you are expected to keep on top of your own development. The skills offered through the Blue Light Academy, such as British Sign Language, which allow us to engage with members of the community who are harder to reach and provide them with a better service.”
Sue Outhwaite, Head of Service Implementation for Blue Light Academy at Seetec Outsource, said: “This event highlighted the importance of BSL for emergency service workers and the potential benefits it can bring to both Greater Manchester’s Blue Light services and the communities they serve.
“The programmes we offer at the Blue Light Academy are unique to Emergency Services. All the courses are an opportunity for learners to upskill and grow in their chosen field.”
To find out more about the Blue Light Academy and make an enquiry to our team, please click this link.
