Appendix B

This section of the report outlines the community groups / organisations recommendations to enhance employment and service accessibility for underrepresented groups. The suggestions are categorised into actions the NFRS should start doing, stop doing, and continue or do more of.

Start doing	Stop doing	Continue/Do more of
Raise awareness within diverse communities about the benefits and opportunities available in the Fire Service through educational workshops, informational sessions, and awareness campaigns. Address common misconceptions and concerns about firefighting careers.	Consider whether a more suitable vehicle might be available when attending a call out for a woman needing a risk assessment. The attention of a fire engine pulling up outside her home can be daunting.	Providing a fantastic response when referrals are made from organisations like Juno
Customise recruitment messages and materials to resonate with the cultural values and priorities of Muslim, Sikhs, Christian’s and Hindu’s. Avoid using language or imagery that may unintentionally alienate or exclude certain cultural groups.	Being silent about the misogyny and racism that exists in the Fire Service nationally and locally.	Providing more ‘Safe and Well Visits’ – but also promote these to new and emerging community groups who may be less familiar with the fire hazards in UK homes.
	Re brand the name of the service to the Rescue and Fire Service, Protection and Rescue, or Protection and Protect as this is a better reflection of the service.	Continue to attend Pride and cultural festivals and promote the non-operational roles too.
Engage new graphic designers to overhaul your website to make it an interactive experience to a new and younger demographic. Update imagery to change perceptions of the firefighter role as being masculine.	Having the only training and assessment centre in the shires. This is a barrier preventing people from Nottingham from applying for roles. Consider having a training centre in Nottingham.	Continue to advertise posts on your website, but also use LinkedIn, Facebook, and job sites. Send the QR code for vacancies to community groups so they can advertise the role for you. Let people know well in advance when the recruitment rounds will be taking place.
Have virtual and also in person engagement sessions with the community.	The outdated thinking in relation to Black British people. Many are 2nd and 3rd generation and should not be communicated with as though they are a minority group.	Have more open days and ‘Have a go days’ at local stations. Publicise these dates on your website and to the groups that have participated in this review.
Engage with community groups and stakeholders to solicit input and feedback on your diversity initiatives, to ensure that they remain culturally relevant and responsive to community needs. Meet with the community groups annually to review your strategic plans.	Ignoring people. Speak to people when you are on duty.	Partner with community organisations, schools, colleges, and universities to conduct outreach programmes aimed at attracting individuals from diverse backgrounds to the Fire Service.
Partnering with community groups for recruitment campaigns. Provide more information about the support roles available, the skills required and the difference these roles make to the community.	Actively support groups like Heya, and Swim Sister Swim, to give women who need it more confidence in the water. Review whether 3 years employment history is an essential requirement as this requirement is particularly challenging for young people and new and emerging communities.	Promoting the benefits and opportunities available working at the NFRS.
Offer work experience training programmes and career pathways such as cadets and apprenticeships to young people aged 14- 18 to inspire the next generation of firefighters in Nottingham.	Assuming that racially minoritised groups are uneducated or lack aspiration. There are more Black graduates than ever before who want to know how the Fire Service will enhance their knowledge and skills.	Ensure that your website is accessible in the various community languages. The groups were very impressed at the ease in which your website could be translated into the various community languages.
Ensure that recruitment practices are inclusive and free from bias, discrimination, or barriers that may disproportionately impact individuals from certain cultural backgrounds. Have your recruitment processes reviewed by an independent person.	Being elusive. Pick the phone up and speak to community groups to raise their awareness of issues that might affect them. I.e., smoking Shisha in their homes, or fire hazards when cooking for large family gatherings. The community want to hear from you!	Collaborate with community organisations, religious institutions, and cultural associations to leverage your networks and support recruitment efforts. These partnerships can help facilitate trust-building and provide access to potential candidates.
Collaborate with the Police Association on some of the engagement activities.	Avoiding the Mosques as people need awareness of incidences that can arise during for example Eid. Mosques are also full of young men and boys.	Local stations should have an informative and active face book page where they connect to the local community. Stapleford and Stockhill stations were cited as having a presence in their area.
Recruit volunteers from the local community to engage with young people about the Fire Service.	Assuming that Arab women are ‘stay at home mums.’ Many bring with them a wealth of experience of serving in the uniformed services in their home countries.	Continue to highlight real life success stories on your website. For maximum publicity share these videos on YouTube and with community groups.
Establish relationships with refugee resettlement agencies and immigrant support organisations to facilitate access to employment opportunities for refugees and immigrants with the requisite qualifications.	Stop being silent on national issues of racism, sexism, misogyny, harassment, and bullying. Use your website to condemn such practices and state what you are doing in your workforce to prevent them. This will give the general public and minority groups confidence in your service.	Continue to use positive action measures in recruitment, in particular at the decision-making stage. (Legal tiebreaker – Section 159 Equality Act 2010).
	Stop using radio stations as a public announcement.	Promote policies that support work life balance and are family friendly.
Have on call / retained firefighters in the Nottingham area to give local people an opportunity to do the role on a voluntary basis.		Educating new and emerging communities about the various materials used in home construction and cooking in the UK to help them have a better understanding of how fires might start.
Include in your recruitment material that you have redesigned the uniform so that it is a better fit for women.
Showcase real people and share real stories on your website.
Improve diversity by employing multilingual staff and make this a job requirement for some roles / teams.
Be aware of some of the cultural barriers to engagement and showcase the support available.
Consider a YouTube video programme about the life of a firefighter.
Explain what firefighters do whilst on stand-by to dispel the perception that they just sleep, play snooker and eat roast dinners.
Provide cultural competency training for recruitment staff and firefighters to increase their understanding of the cultural backgrounds, values, and needs of diverse communities.
Having a children’s 0-19 page and making the information interactive and visually appealing to look at.
For NFRS operational or non-operational staff to be guest lecturers at schools and colleges.