London Fire Brigade to recruit 300 new cadets in £1.1m scheme to deter youth from crime

The recruitment drive will create 15 new cadet units and more than double the current number of cadets to 500
PA Archive/PA Images

The London Fire Brigade today launched a recruitment drive for 300 cadets to help keep young people away from crime.

A £1.1 million cash injection from City Hall will create 15 new cadet units and take the number of cadets to 500 — more than double the current total.

The placements are for 11 to 17-year-olds who will learn basic fire safety, first aid and firefighting skills. They will also have the opportunity to obtain a BTEC qualification.

The Mayor’s Office said the recruitment drive was part of Sadiq Khan’s efforts to keep young people “off the streets and away from crime”, and would also help develop the “firefighters of tomorrow” as many former cadets have gone on to work for the fire service.

The LFB hopes the drive will boost the diversity of the cadet force and the service.

Dany Cotton, London Fire Brigade Commissioner, said the cadets would “challenge stereotypes”, pointing out that more than half of recruits are young women.

The commissioner, who has previously called for an end to the use of the word “fireman”, said the drive will “break down barriers further and hopefully lead to more women becoming interested in the fire service”.

Up to 750 people have graduated from the cadet scheme since it started in 2013. The new funding means there will be at least one cadet unit in every London borough.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in