London has been successful at recruiting and retaining firefighters from underrepresented sections of the local population. As a result it is recruiting nearly 20 per cent of its entrants from black and minority ethnic (BME) communities and aims to increase that to 25 per cent.
It has an outreach team consisting of operational Fire Officers and Fire and Rescue Service staff. They undertake a range of activities to promote the service as a career for women and people from BME communities. The team has a database of nearly 20,000 BME candidates who have expressed an interest in joining the service. Around 1,000 candidates a year attend open days which explain to potential applicants the selection process and what life is like as a firefighter. The open days pioneered by London Fire Brigade are recognised as best practice and attract interest from large companies such as British Gas and the National Grid.
The outreach team works closely with community and faith groups explaining the service as a career option. It runs training programmes specifically designed to support potential BME applicants in reaching the standards they need. Outreach also works with Community Fire Safety Officers to ensure that recruitment messages are linked to fire safety messages in the community.
London uses serving BME firefighters as role models in all its media campaigns. It makes extensive use of advertorials, articles linked to advertisements, to reinforce the message that the fire service is a ‘career for us’. Media campaigns and messages are targeted to maximise interest and applications from BME communities.