Care and support for those who serve: Fire Fighters Charity’s next chapter

Individuals in the fire service face challenges not only in their professional roles but also to their physical, emotional and social wellbeing. We caught up with Sherine Wheeler, CEO of Fire Fighters Charity, as she reflects on her first year leading the organisation.

Fire Fighters Charity offers a wide range of care and support to individuals in the fire services community and their families during and after service, including counselling, a crisis line, financial support, and residential programmes aimed at both mental and physical health needs. 

Sherine highlighted the long-standing impact of the charity, which has supported firefighters for over 81 years. “Fire Fighters Charity provides a real lifeline to people,” she added, emphasising its importance for people at any stage in their fire service career, from starting out to retiring and beyond.

Sherine noted the complexity of challenges facing the fire community, which range from operational risks like emerging energy sources and climate change-induced wildfires to social issues such as online harassment. “It’s not an easy sector to work in. I think individuals in the fire service and their families really deserve to be valued and recognised for their contribution to their communities,” she said.

The charity aims to extend its reach to many more people across the UK; their care and support is available to operational and non-operational staff, both serving and retired. Sherine explained, “This past year, we were able to support about 10,300 people across the UK with our services. I think that’s fantastic, but I would love that number to increase multi-fold in the next few years.”

She emphasised the importance of raising awareness: “Some people just don’t know that we’re here for them, and we’re working with fire and rescue services across the UK to make our services more relevant and accessible. But also a really big priority for us is to engage the general public in our cause.”

A key feature of Fire Fighters Charity is its independence. Sherine noted, “We are completely independent of fire and rescue services as employers. We are here to help in confidence, free of charge and free of judgement.” This independence helps break down barriers some people may experience when it comes to accessing support.

Sherine stressed the value of partnerships with fire and rescue services and other organisations. “We have anonymous, aggregated UK-wide data, and also competence and credibility that’s been accumulated over very many years of understanding the unique health and wellbeing needs of people who work in fire,” she said. The charity will pilot new approaches, such as addressing the impact of fire service work on family relationships.

Retired personnel remain a focus for the charity. “I’m not convinced that everybody who leaves the service thinks of this charity as continuing to be relevant to their health and wellbeing needs,” Sherine admitted. She sees an opportunity to ensure that former firefighters know they can still access services.

Sherine’s advice for anyone in the fire community is simple: “It’s really important that people feel able to talk about how they’re feeling physically and emotionally and socially with their peers, with their crew, with their loved ones. And if you don’t feel able to do that, you’ve always got a listening ear, and someone who really understands and values you, on the end of a phone with us.”

As Fire Fighters Charity continues to adapt to the evolving needs of the fire community, Sherine’s focus is on expanding the charity’s reach, maintaining the high quality of its services, and ensuring every firefighter, current or retired, knows they can access support. “What I hope we can do is scale our reach while retaining that quality that our reputation really rests on, and at the same time making ourselves relevant to many, many more people,” she said.

The industry will once again be gathering at the NEC, Birmingham for The Emergency Services Show, co-located with The Emergency Tech Show, on 17-18 September, check out the full exhibitor list here. You can find Fire Fighters Charity in the Collaboration Zone at Stand CZ15.