Asian Fire Service Association Annual Summer Conference

Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service were the proud hosts of the annual summer Asian Fire Service Association (AFSA) conference last week.

The conference - which was held on 10 and 11 July 2024 - saw over 36 fire and rescue services come together at Nottingham's Crowne Plaza Hotel to develop their understanding around workplace culture, diversity within the sector, and beyond.

Around 200 delegates and speakers attended with an ambition to 'Aspire To Be Outstanding' - our aim was for other fire and rescue services to take this back to their organisations and implement their learning, changing behaviour of their own and others within their service.

Speakers across the two days included:

• Stephen Carver, Cranfield University, talking about complexity in change management and the crucial role of leadership and workplace culture
• Colette Black, Assistant Chief Executive of Essex County Fire and Rescue Service, presented recent research into psychological safety within fire and rescue services
• Jayen Palmer, College of Policing, gave an insight into making the most of allyship
• Azeem Rafik, Yorkshire cricket player, spoke about his experience with racism, and how to not mistake it for banter

Staff from across Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service also delivered 'This Is Me' sections throughout the conference, giving an insight into the people behind the badge.

As well as using it as an opportunity to elevate their learning and understanding of diversity and inclusion, we wanted the delegates to have fun and use this event to network with others. We hosted a pre-conference event, where we launched the services' South Asian Heritage Month exhibition.

We also invited delegates to attend the evening dinner, which saw local performers take the stage, including Pubjaban folk dance and Pulp Friction with their choir. A raffle and auction was held to raise money for our three chosen charities - The Fire Fighters Charity, The Little Ted Foundation, and Himmah. We are pleased that over £1,800 was raised for the three charities, and with AFSA's amazing contributions, we were able to donate £1,000 to each of our charities.

Chief Fire Officer, Craig Parkin, said: "I am very proud of the service for hosting this years' summer AFSA conference - not only does it contribute towards our organisational development journey but it provides a visible trust and confidence to our communities.

"AFSA has been hugely important to us, as we recognise that those external bodies bring a different approach to the organisation. The conference brought a complete new energy to what we are trying to achieve within the sector and that was something we were missing in Nottinghamshire."

National Advisor for AFSA, Jagta Singh, said: "AFSA is not just an Asian Fire Association, it is an inclusion network that values everybody that attends, whether they're a speaker or a delegate, they all have an equal voice.

"It was an amazing couple of days, and it was great to have our colleagues from Nottinghamshire involved in delivering yet another successful conference."