Empowering Women in Fire: South Wales Fire and Rescue Service Joins National Event and Celebration

Empowering Women in Fire: South Wales Fire and Rescue Service Joins National Event and Celebration

This weekend, nine representatives from South Wales Fire and Rescue Service (SWFRS) joined delegates from across the UK at the Women in the Fire Service (WFS) National Training and Development Event 2025, a unique celebration of learning, empowerment, and community.

Held annually, the WFS event brought together women from every part of fire and rescue – operational, corporate and support staff. Over three packed days, the programme featured hands-on workshops, leadership sessions and wellbeing-focused activities designed to challenge, energise and inspire.

Beci Newton, Station Manager, attedended the event for the first time, “Despite having been a firefighter for 18 years this is my first WFS weekend. I’ve come not as a delegate but as an instructor and it’s an honour to be teaching highrise at such a prestigious institution. This event is about empowering each other, sharing knowledge and showing that leadership has many faces; and all of them belong in the fire and rescue service.”

Delegates from South Wales took part in a wide range of sessions, including:

  • Incident Command simulations to develop decision-making and leadership skills
  • Wildfire awareness sessions, focused on risk prediction and safe response
  • High-rise firefighting tactics, offering real-time demonstrations of rescue and evacuation
  • Silence Doubt, Amplify Your Voice and Finding Your Voice sessions aimed at building confidence and tackling imposter syndrome
  • Fire behaviour exposure training using real fire scenarios in full kit and Breathing Apparatus (BA)
  • Fire Investigation, including live demos from Fire Investigation Dogs Rue and Loki
  • Contaminants session raising awareness of health risks and supporting wellbeing

The event also featured quieter moments for reflection and self-care. Delegates enjoyed a Yoga Flow and Nidra session on Sunday morning, met the much-loved K9 Wellbeing Dogs, and took part in workshops exploring professional development, mental health, and inclusive design — including viewing PPE designed for women and the realities of Aviation Firefighting at Heathrow Airport.

Serious topics were tackled with care and honesty, including how to better support staff affected by domestic abuse, and how legislation and workplace culture can help create safer spaces for everyone.

Clare Amor, Crew Manager at Duffryn Station attended the event. As the SWFRS regional rep for Women in the Fire Service UK, Clare shared why the event is so important:

“This is the 23rd WFS UK event all 52 services are attending plus delegates from Southern Ireland, Jersey and Ghana this year.

“The reason for this event is to empower and encourage women in our Fire Services across the UK. It enables operational and corporate delegates to be involved in realistic fire & rescue scenarios and workshops that will help enable them to reach their full potential. This will then inspire confident, successful women to return to their Service and help build a more progressive fire service.

SWFRS wanted to offer all their staff the same opportunities so last year we held the first WFS Cymru event for All Wales for “All employees” at Cardiff Gate and our planned 2025 event in October is already half full.”

The weekend reaffirmed South Wales Fire and Rescue Service’s commitment to building a more inclusive, representative and supportive workforce — and to investing in the growth and development of all staff, regardless of role or background.