Staff at Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service celebrated at annual ‘Excellence Awards’ at posh Huntingdon hotel

On Call Employer of the Year: Jordan Sutton - Staff at the Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service celebrated at the brigades annual Excellence Awards ceremony in Huntingdon. Picture: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY (Image: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY)

The glitzy bash took place at the four-star Marriot Hotel in Huntingdon on Thursday, January 17 and saw staff from all areas across the service come together for the night.

Around 140 guests packed the posh hotel to celebrate the “commitment, dedication and professionalism of staff who regularly go above and beyond”.

Hosting the prestigious evening was Chris Strickland, chief fire officer. He was joined by Rick Hylton, assistant chief fire officer and head of media and communications.

On Call Employer of the Year: Sainsburys March - Staff at the Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service celebrated at the brigades annual Excellence Awards ceremony in Huntingdon. Picture: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY (Image: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY)

Chris said: “Our awards allow us to celebrate all the hard work and dedication shown by staff and to thank them and their families for providing great support.

“It gives me great pride to be able to recognise the achievements of so many members of staff from across the different areas of the service.

“The passion, enthusiasm and professionalism shown by our winners, as well as the years of commitment shown by those receiving long service awards, is really inspiring.”

Long Service Medal: Scott Fretwell - Staff at the Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service celebrated at the brigades annual Excellence Awards ceremony in Huntingdon. Picture: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY (Image: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY)

Winners:

Long Service and Good Conduct medal winners:

Long Service Medal: Paul Gasco - Staff at the Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service celebrated at the brigades annual Excellence Awards ceremony in Huntingdon. Picture: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY (Image: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY)

Antony Estall – Crew Commander, Burwell

Alex Chrysanthou – Firefighter, Chatteris

Ben Fawcitt – Station Commander, Huntingdon

Long Service Medal: Ben Fawcitt - Staff at the Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service celebrated at the brigades annual Excellence Awards ceremony in Huntingdon. Picture: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY (Image: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY)

Scott Fretwell – Crew Commander, Cambridge

Paul Gascoigne – Firefighter, Combined Fire Control

Andy Titmuss – Crew Commander, Wisbech

Long Service Medal: Anthony Estall - Staff at the Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service celebrated at the brigades annual Excellence Awards ceremony in Huntingdon. Picture: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY (Image: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY)

Adam Woodbine – Firefighter, Kimbolton

Long Service Award Support Staff:

Long Service Medal: Andy Titmus - Staff at the Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service celebrated at the brigades annual Excellence Awards ceremony in Huntingdon. Picture: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY (Image: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY)

(Awarded after completing 20 years’ of public service.)

Karen Garrard – Procurement Officer, Service HQ

Long Service Medal: Chrys Chrysanthou - Staff at the Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service celebrated at the brigade’s annual ‘Excellence Awards’ ceremony in Huntingdon. Picture: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY (Image: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY)

Chairman’s Award:

(Presented to retired personnel who have completed at least 25 years’ service.)

John Chelton – Watch Commander, Wisbech

Long Service Medal: Adam Woodbine - Staff at the Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service celebrated at the brigades annual Excellence Awards ceremony in Huntingdon. Picture: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY (Image: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY)

Mike Fishpoole – Watch Commander, Cottenham

Mick Percival – Watch Commander, Training Centre (Huntingdon)

Danny Rust – Property Manager, Service HQ

Long Service Award: Karen Garrard - Staff at the Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service celebrated at the brigades annual Excellence Awards ceremony in Huntingdon. Picture: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY (Image: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY)

Trevor White – Crew Commander, Kimbolton

Excellence Awards:

Excellence Award: Seb Croot - Staff at the Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service celebrated at the brigades annual Excellence Awards ceremony in Huntingdon. Picture: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY (Image: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY)

Fire Protection team

“The teams from north and south of the county faced signi?cant challenges responding to the ?re at Grenfell Tower.

“They proactively provided reassurance to residents quickly while also helping to coordinate the national response to the aftermath of the tragedy.”

Excellence Award: Portable Misting System Team - Staff at the Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service celebrated at the brigades annual Excellence Awards ceremony in Huntingdon. Picture: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY (Image: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY)

Alternative appliance project – presented by Emergency One and Clan Tools

Led by station commander Danny Kelly, the project team made up of staff from across the service, has introduced new alternative appliances and trial kit to three on-call stations.

Seb Croot

Excellence Award: Laura Walker - Staff at the Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service celebrated at the brigades annual Excellence Awards ceremony in Huntingdon. Picture: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY (Image: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY)

Nominated three times, Seb has been widely recognised for his consistently high standards in his role as a crew commander at Linton Fire Station, as well as when on standby at other stations.

Combined Fire Control

Combined Fire Control is recognised for the way staff handled the unprecedented demand across Cambridgeshire and Suffolk during the spate of ?res in the summer.

Excellence Award: March on call crew - Staff at the Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service celebrated at the brigades annual Excellence Awards ceremony in Huntingdon. Picture: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY (Image: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY)

Portable Misting System team

A team made up of staff from community ?re safety, property and control worked together to introduce the lifesaving portable misting systems and install them into vulnerable people’s homes.

Laura Walker

Excellence Award: Fire Protection Team - Staff at the Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service celebrated at the brigades annual Excellence Awards ceremony in Huntingdon. Picture: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY (Image: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY)

Choosing retention of on-call firefighters as the basis of her dissertation, Laura has taken her findings and presented them at a national conference to other fire and rescue services, showcasing Cambridgeshire as a leading service.

Cambridge Black Watch and Cottenham on-call crew

Using specialist in-water kit and lifesaving techniques, the crews rescued a member of the public that had fallen into the River Cam in October and worked with ambulance staff to resuscitate the casualty.

Excellence Award: Combined Fire Control - Staff at the Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service celebrated at the brigades annual Excellence Awards ceremony in Huntingdon. Picture: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY (Image: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY)

March on-call crew

The crew of four worked exceptionally hard to save the life of a casualty that went into cardiac arrest during a rescue from a property. They performed lifesaving techniques several times during the rescue and while being transported to hospital.

Excellence Award: Cambridge Black Watch and Cottenham on call crew - Staff at the Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service celebrated at the brigades annual Excellence Awards ceremony in Huntingdon. Picture: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY (Image: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY)

On-call Recruit of the Year:

(Chosen by the service’s training centre team)

Jordan Sutton

Community Champion of the Year: Ryan Berridge - Staff at the Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service celebrated at the brigades annual Excellence Awards ceremony in Huntingdon. Picture: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY (Image: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY)

Jordan has been chosen for his resilience and determination during his course.

Community Champion of the Year:

Chairman's Award: Trevor White - Staff at the Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service celebrated at the brigades annual Excellence Awards ceremony in Huntingdon. Picture: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY (Image: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY)

Ryan Berridge

For his commitment and support delivering community safety activity as a volunteer.

Chairman's Award: Mick Percival - Staff at the Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service celebrated at the brigades annual Excellence Awards ceremony in Huntingdon. Picture: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY (Image: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY)

On-call Employer of the Year - presented by TruckEast and Scania:

Sainsbury’s Superstore, March

For its support in releasing staff along with providing a training venue and casualties for an exercise.

Chairman's Award: Mike Fishpoole - Staff at the Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service celebrated at the brigades annual Excellence Awards ceremony in Huntingdon. Picture: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY (Image: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY)

Certificate of Commendation:

Ken Marshall and Dave Harding

Chairman's Award: John Chelton - Staff at the Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service celebrated at the brigades annual Excellence Awards ceremony in Huntingdon. Picture: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY (Image: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY)

For their support over many years for the training team in setting up and assessing no-notice exercises.

Rodney Cubberley

Providing dedication and commitment to Cambridge Fire Station for more than a decade.

Chairman's Award: Danny Rust - Staff at the Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service celebrated at the brigades annual Excellence Awards ceremony in Huntingdon. Picture: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY (Image: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY)

Certificate of Commendation: Rodney Cubberley - Staff at the Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service celebrated at the brigades annual Excellence Awards ceremony in Huntingdon. Picture: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY (Image: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY)

Certificate of Commendation: Rodney Cubberley - Staff at the Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service celebrated at the brigades annual Excellence Awards ceremony in Huntingdon. Picture: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY (Image: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY)

Excellence Award: Alternative Appliance Project Team - Staff at the Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service celebrated at the brigades annual Excellence Awards ceremony in Huntingdon. Picture: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY (Image: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY)

Excellence Award: Alternative Appliance Project Team - Staff at the Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service celebrated at the brigades annual Excellence Awards ceremony in Huntingdon. Picture: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY (Image: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY)

Excellence Award: Alternative Appliance Project Team - Staff at the Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service celebrated at the brigades annual Excellence Awards ceremony in Huntingdon. Picture: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY (Image: SBD PHOTOGRAPHY)