Scotland’s national fire service is reaching out to members of the LGBT+ community to encourage them to consider a career in the fire service.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service is inviting underrepresented groups to a dedicated online information session about operational and non-operational roles.
This month, an exclusive session is being held for members of the LGBT+ community.
Liz Barnes, Director of People and Organisational Development for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, said: “As an equal opportunities employer, we strive to ensure our workforce represents the communities we work in.
“We want to reach out to diverse groups. This can help increase the number of applicants, which means that we will get the best candidates applying for the right job.”
In October 2020, due to COVID-19 restrictions the information sessions moved online for the first time.
This month, online sessions continue with a dedcated LGBT+ event on Wednesday, January 20 between 6pm and 8pm.
Liz continued: “During the sessions, we’ll aim to answer questions about the range of careers available in the service and how you can apply for these roles.
“It’s also important for us discuss any challenges you feel there are and how we may assist in overcoming these.”
Anyone who wishes to attend can sign up via Eventbrite– places are limited however, there will be a holding list for future events.
More online information sessions are planned for other underrepresented groups who are interested in learning more about careers in the fire service.
Lauder Fire Station has celebrated its 20th Anniversary and firefighters have been reflecting on what it means to serve their community.
When the Borders station opened in 2000, there were 45 applicants to become firefighters, and 15 were successful. Still serving from that very first crew are Watch Commander (WC) John Connell and Crew Commander (CC) Dougie Scott.
Both are retained firefighters and balance being on call for their local community with holding down full-time jobs.
CC Scott is a postal worker. He was a leading firefighter at the crew’s first call out, which was to a horse transporter alight.
CC Scott said: “The first incident was the day after the station officially opened, and I drove to this call, as I was a selected driver. My heart was racing. We were supervised by a full-time Sub Officer, everything went to plan and our training kicked in.
“It was the start of 20 years enjoyable service with great highs and the inevitable lows.
“The camaraderie and team work of my colleagues help to lift you when times are hard, and I always remember that no matter what, I am helping our community at their time of need.”
When the Station opened, full-time farmer, WC Connell was Lauder Fire Station’s Sub Officer.
WC Connell said: “I was honoured to join the crew at Lauder and to lead them as Sub Officer. I had no idea what I was letting myself in for, and it’s been a rollercoaster.
“We have served our Community on over 2,000 occasions, but it’s only a small part of the picture. We are available for them 24/7, working around our families and main jobs as well.
“There’s great satisfaction in talking to a member of the community about joining and their journey to become part of the crew, which is like a family.
“I continue to be honoured and proud to be part of the Lauder crew, to serve our community, and I intend to do so for many years to come.”
Lauder Fire Station was officially opened on September 1, 2000 by HRH The Princess Royal.
Retained firefighter Christine Jaffray was part of the first crew. She’s since left the Service and she’s also the aunt of current Scottish Borders Group Commander (GC) Michael Jaffray.
She met Princess Anne at the official opening which was reported in the Border Telegraph newspaper on September 5, that year.
She said: “The Princess asked me how my family felt about me being a firefighter and what I did as my main job? I told her my family are fine with what I do and I’m a registered nurse, which can come in handy when I’m called out.
“I decided to become a firefighter because it was a challenge for me and it was something for the community that I could be involved in. They had an open day and I thought I would give it a go, I never thought for a minute that I would actually make it, but here I am.”
Lauder Fire Station celebrated the milestone occasion with a socially distanced ceremony.
This was attended by Assistant Chief Officer (ACO) John Dickie, Deputy Assistant Chief Officer (DACO) David Lockhart, Local Senior Officer (LSO) Steve Gourlay, GC Michael Jaffray, Station Commander (SC) Don MacNeil, and the Lauder crew.
ACO, John Dickie was involved in the initial and continuous training of the Lauder crew for their first three years.
He said: “It was very satisfying to observe the team develop from limited knowledge and experience as trainee firefighters to being signed off as ready to go on the run protecting the community of Lauder. Now 20 years on, it was good to meet and chat with some of the original crew again on the anniversary of the station going on the run.”
The SFRS is currently on the look-out for retained firefighters in areas across Scotland.
Retained firefighters must be aged 18 or over, live within five to eight minutes’ drive of their local station and have the permission of their primary employer before joining the SFRS.
Pop-culture retailer Lost Universe is recruiting a professional binge-watcher
● £300 cash payment to binge-watch geek movies or TV from your sofa
● One-year subscriptions to ALL the top streaming services up for grabs!
Pop-culture online retailer Lost Universe is recruiting for a seriously dreamy job, a geek movies and TV binge-watcher. All that’s required for the role is to rate three movies or TV episodes of choice from the latest superhero/Sci-Fi/fantasy releases.
The opportunity is a one-off project which will pay one talented movie or TV fanatic £300 for their binge-watching efforts, gift them a £30 voucher to spend at lostuniverse.com and will also offer the ultimate binge-watching bundle: ONE-YEAR subscriptions to ALL the top UK streaming platforms, from Netflix, Disney +, Amazon Prime and NOW TV Entertainment all the way to YouTube Premium.
Five runners-up will also win a £30 Lost Universe gift voucher each, giving pop-culture fans even more reasons to enter.
The dream job winner will enjoy best-in-class entertainment, including the latest from the Marvel or DC Universe, all the 11 Star Wars movies and TV show the Mandalorian (on Disney+), all seasons of Game of Thrones (on NOW TV), exclusive YouTube content with no ads, and much more.
Binge-Watcher Dream Job requirements
Lost Universe is the home of all things geek, offering a wide range of fan favourite licensed merch, including the most sought-after limited editions and exclusives, so they are looking for someone who lives and breathes pop-culture for the fun role. Job requirements list someone who obsesses over their favourite superhero/Sci-Fi/fictional characters, follows the latest movies and TV releases and reviews them with friends for fun, and even cite “owner of comfortable sofa/armchair for binge-watching preferred”, but the role is open to pop-culture newbies and veterans alike.
Sounds like a tough job indeed!
How to apply
It couldn’t be easier to apply, with the company asking applicants to upload a picture of themselves recreating a superhero/Sci-Fi/fictional character pose, either on Facebook or Instagram, mentioning the name of their chosen character in the description. They will need to tag @lostuniverse.club and use the competition hashtag #bingewatcherdreamjob.
Applicants are free to snap a fun pic using social media filters or improvising with stuff they have around the house – Lost Universe will judge entries based on creativity and following the superhero/Sci-Fi/fictional theme, and don’t require professional pictures, costumes or attire. The one-off binge-watcher job opportunity is encouraging all pop-culture fans to enter!
Applications are open until 28th October 11:59 PM and the winner will be announced on 2nd November on the Lost Universe website and social media. The one-off role is open to UK residents aged 18 and over.
For the full description of the role and the terms and conditions, please visit:
– Roles being advertised focus on picking and packing Morrisons on Amazon orders –
Morrisons is creating over 1,000 permanent jobs to fulfil orders for its services on Amazon.co.uk and Amazon Prime Now.
Morrisons is recruiting the colleagues to help pick and pack customer orders from over 50 stores, covering most major cities and many towns.
Customers are looking for different ways to access grocery home deliveries and Morrisons on Amazon (an Amazon.co.uk service) and the Morrisons Store on Amazon Prime Now (accessible via the Prime Now site and app) provide Prime members with a way of getting free-of-charge same-day grocery delivery.
Orders are placed on Amazon, before being picked in store by Morrisons employees and packed in a dedicated area. From there, the shopping is collected by Amazon Flex Delivery Partners and delivered to the customer within a two-hour delivery window on the same day.
The ‘Customer Assistant – Pick and Pack’ roles are available in over 50 stores across the country. Successful candidates will work as part of a Delivery team in stores, ensuring that orders are picked and packed correctly and customer service standards are maintained.
Hannah Horsfall, Head of Amazon at Morrisons,said: “At Morrisons, we’re doing everything we can to ensure everyone can order our great value food and have it delivered to their doorstep.
“We’re looking for team players, with good customer service skills that can play their full part in helping to feed the nation.”
All jobs are advertised on the Morrisons Jobs website: https://www.morrisons.jobs/ – search for pick and pack.
Police Scotland is acutely aware that the diversity of our communities is increasing all the time. We recognise the importance of our communities being able to relate to our police officers and we are therefore actively reaching out to our BME communities and encouraging you to consider a career in policing in Scotland.
During the 90 minute online recruitment event, users will learn about the recruitment process, the training, the role of a police officer and the endless opportunities which are available to you once you embark on this exciting career path.
The date of the event is: Thursday 24 September from 6.30pm – 8pm
In order to participate in the event, Microsoft Teams will be required.
For more information and to reserve a space please email:-
Amazon to Create 10,000 New Permanent Jobs Across the UK in 2020
Amazon today announced that 10,000 new permanent roles are being created across the UK in 2020, taking the company’s total permanent UK workforce to more than 40,000.
Amazon has already added 3,000 new permanent roles to its workforce across its UK network of fulfilment centres, sort centres and delivery stations – including at a new hi-tech fulfilment centre in the North East of England which opened in May.
The company will add a further 7,000 new permanent roles by the end of 2020 across more than 50 sites, including Corporate offices and two new fulfilment centres launching in the autumn in the North East and in the Midlands.
The new roles, including engineers, graduates, HR and IT professionals, health and safety and finance specialists, as well as the teams who will pick, pack and ship customer orders, will help Amazon meet growing customer demand and enable small and medium sized enterprises selling on Amazon to scale their businesses.
Amazon has already offered temporary roles to thousands of people whose job was impacted at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, many of whom will now be able to transition into a permanent role with the potential for a career within Amazon.
In addition, Amazon is creating more than 20,000 seasonal positions across the UK ahead of the festive period at its sites across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and at three pop-up fulfilment centres.
At the centre of the job creation programme are three new, state-of-the-art fulfilment centres in Darlington, Durham and Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, each fitted out with advanced Amazon Robotics technology and each creating more than 1,000 new permanent roles. Construction of these new fulfilment centres began last year. Darlington started operations in May and the sites in Durham and Sutton-in-Ashfield will launch later this autumn.
In addition, Amazon has recruited more than 700 apprentices during 2020, helping young people begin their careers in fields ranging from automation engineering and IT to digital marketing and fashion buyers, with pay of up to £30,000 a year for degree-level apprenticeships. A typical apprenticeship combines theoretical learning with hands-on training, enabling participants to obtain qualifications and degrees and earn money in the process.
Amazon provides some of the most advanced workplaces of their kind in the world, with industry-leading pay, processes and systems to ensure the wellbeing and safety of all employees.
Pay starts at a minimum of £10.50 p/h in the London area and £9.50 p/h in other parts of the UK for all full-time, part-time, temporary and seasonal roles in Amazon’s fulfilment centres, sort centres and delivery stations.
Employees are offered a comprehensive benefits package, including private medical insurance, life assurance, income protection, subsidised meals and an employee discount – which combined are worth more than £700 annually – as well as a company pension plan.
Amazon also offers employees an innovative programme called Career Choice that provides funding for skills development through nationally recognised courses of up to £8,000 over four years.
Business Secretary, Alok Sharma said: “While this has been a challenging time for many businesses, it is hugely encouraging to see Amazon creating 10,000 jobs in the UK this year.
“This is not only great news for those looking for a new job, but also a clear vote of confidence in the UK economy as we build back better from the pandemic. The government remains deeply committed to supporting retailers of all sizes and we continue to work closely with the industry as we embark on the road to economic recovery.”
Stefano Perego, Amazon’s Vice President of European Customer Fulfilment, said: “We’re proud to be creating 10,000 new permanent roles across our UK network of fulfilment centres, sort centres and delivery stations offering competitive wages and comprehensive benefits starting on day one.
“Our people have played a critical role in serving customers in these unprecedented times and the new roles will help us continue to meet customer demand and support small and medium sized businesses selling on Amazon.
“The new state-of-the-art robotics fulfilment centres in the North East and the Midlands, as well as the thousands of additional roles at sites across the country, underline our commitment to the people and communities in which we operate. We are employing thousands of talented individuals in a diverse range of good jobs from operations managers and tech professionals through to people to handle customer orders.”
He added: “We prepare year-round for the festive season and we’re also excited to have over 20,000 seasonal positions available this year to help delight our customers. We look forward to welcoming back seasonal workers who return year-after-year to work at Amazon and welcome new faces to the seasonal team.”
Amazon’s workforce will increase from more than 30,000 people in the UK at the beginning of the year to more than 40,000 people by the end of 2020. Amazon has invested over £18 billion in its UK operations since 2010 to provide convenience, selection and value to UK consumers, while helping to digitally empower more than 373,000 small businesses and content creators.
People interested in applying for both permanent and seasonal roles at Amazon should visit www.amazonjobs.co.uk
Police Scotland is acutely aware that the diversity of our communities is increasing all the time. We recognise the importance of our communities being able to relate to our police officers and we are therefore actively reaching out to our BME communities and encouraging you to consider a career in policing in Scotland.
During the 90 minute online recruitment event, users will learn about the recruitment process, the training, the role of a police officer and the endless opportunities which are available to you once you embark on this exciting career path.
The date of the event is: Thursday 24th September 2020 6.30pm – 8pm
In order to participate in the event, Microsoft Teams will be required.
For more information and to reserve a space please email:-
A FIRE service Watch Commander revealed how his training helped save the life of someone trapped inside a burning car, as the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service launches a new recruitment drive.
Operations Control staff member Marc Benedictus received the urgent 999 call following a road traffic collision near Perth and immediately mobilised firefighters and the correct resources to the scene.
He drew upon his skills and experience to ensure that the person was rescued and no one else was hurt.
Marc spoke about his vital role as the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service launches the national campaign to recruit Operations Control staff based across the service’s three control rooms in Johnstone, Dundee and Edinburgh.
The recruitment drive opens tomorrow (Monday, August 10).
Marc, a Watch Commander based at Dundee Operations Control, said: “Some calls absolutely stick with you – and this one was particularly challenging.
“Someone was trapped in the burning car after a bad collision and we had received a number of 999 calls, and all of them were from people who were naturally panicking or asking for advice.”
He added: “We have to balance giving advice to the caller while getting as much information as possible to enable us to quickly mobilise the correct resources for the emergency from the right location.
“It can be very intense but those crews arrived very quickly and were able to rescue that person from the burning car and no other person was hurt. It was very rewarding to be able to draw upon my training and experience to help others.
“That’s why I don’t think there’s any other job like it – this is different to a call centre job, and no one should come in thinking that. This is a career full of opportunities, teamwork, challenges, and even new qualifications.
“It is mentally challenging role, with a lot of training – but the reward is most certainly worth it.”
From Monday, SFRS will be accepting applications for permanent roles at all three operations control rooms.
Successful applicants will join fellow Operations Control staff during a 14 week training period – learning how to co-ordinate emergency fire and rescue response to everything from house fires and road traffic collisions, to major incidents and severe weather related flooding.
Trainees will also learn how to give potentially life-saving advice, providing fire survival guidance to people who are trapped by smoke or fire.
And Marc says it is these calls that can be the most challenging of all. He said: “These calls can be difficult – you are on the line to someone who is in a life-threatening situation and you are their lifeline.
“It’s important to stay calm for them, give strong and direct instructions and survival advice, while working with your team to mobilise resources and direct local firefighters to the exact location of the person who is trapped.
“The relief you feel when you hear the sirens in the background or the firefighters entering the room is incredible.”
Following the 14-week initial training course, Operations Control staff continue to train daily to hone their skills and experience and ensure they are ready to respond to as many eventualities as possible to protect communities.
Area Commander Libby Logan is the head of Operations Control across Scotland. She said: “We need motivated individuals who are serious about serving and protecting Scotland’s communities.
“If you think you are suited to the role, then our fantastic training team will support you every step of the way.
“Our Operations Control rooms are tight-knit teams, who work with local firefighters to respond to emergency calls across Scotland.
“A willingness to learn, a strong team ethic, the ability to stay calm under pressure while handling numerous tasks and a real ability to motivate others and form relationships are all essential attributes – we want the best of the best to take up these roles on Scotland’s unseen frontline.”
NHS Lothian has welcomed 910 new nurses and midwives to support the Health Board to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new recruits are made up of nursing staff and midwives and will be working in the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, the Western General Hospital and St John’s Hospital, Livingstone as well as across the community.
All 910 of the new staff were recruited through a national effort to boost the workforce during the pandemic and beyond, during the national recovery phase.
One of the new Staff Nurses, Alex Simpson, said: “I’m really enjoying doing my bit to help and the team have been so welcoming and supportive of me.”
Jacqueline Reid, Senior Charge Nurse, said: “What a privilege it is to have all these students volunteer to come and work with us and our patients during the current pandemic of Covid-19. An inspiration to us all.”
Craig Stenhouse, Deputy Chief Nurse for Royal Edinburgh Hospital and Associated Services, said: “Having the student nurses join our team has allowed us to continue to provide the high level of care we strive for.
“Each of the students I have met so far have been motivated, enthusiastic and excited to start working in their new teams. It is difficult to believe how quickly these new members of staff have become part of our team.”
This year on International Nurses Day NHS Lothian joined health organisations around the world to celebrate the exceptional work preformed every day by nurses and midwives.
Yesterday was the 200th birthday of Florence Nightingale, who is considered to be the pioneer of modern nursing. Whilst the profession had developed considerably since, it continues to evolve in scope and importance and in the range of roles open to the modern nurse.
Gillian McAuley, Nurse Director for Acute Services in NHS Lothian, said: “One of the biggest challenges for us right now is making sure we really connect with our patients and their families. It’s an important part of in making sure really outstanding ,compassionate care is delivered.
“The use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) can create barriers between us and our patients. A lot of nurses have said can be hard when patients can’t see our expressions, like seeing us smile and of course it’s not possible for a nurse to give a bereaved family member a simple hug.
“We’ve had to do a lot of work learning how to show our expressions and emotions through our eyes and using other forms of expression. We’ve done things like creating cards called ‘a hug in a card’ to try and keep that connection with our patients and their families.”
Alex McMahon, NHS Lothian Director of Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professionals said: “We’ve had to cancel a lot of events we’d been planning to mark International Year of the Nurse but, despite that, we know there has never been a better time to celebrate nursing.
“We welcome our new recruits who know there has never been a more exciting time to be a nurse. There are a whole range of specialisms to choose from and nursing remains a profoundly rewarding and fulfilling profession.”
Lothian MSP, Miles Briggs, said: “The recruitment of 910 nurses and midwives is very welcome during these exceptionally difficult times.
“NHS Lothian will face significant challenges after Covid-19 in improving waiting times and getting patients treated and these new recruits will go a long way to overcoming these challenges.”
