THE emergency services and Milne’s Primary are set to join forces this summer to bring a special community day to Fochabers. On June 15 the school’s fete will return after an absence of a number of years but will also bring together members of the emergency services’ community. Behind the innovative event – the first of its kind to be held in the village – are two members of the local retained fire station team, crew manager Gray Smith and firefighter Stuart Gerrard. Mr Smith, who works at the school, said they had been overwhelmed by the support the event has already received. “We originally approached the head teacher with a view to using the school grounds for an event which could tie in with the school fete, which hasn’t run now for a few years. “We also spoke to the school’s PTA and everyone’s been really enthusiastic and think it’s a great idea.” Mr Gerrard said it would be an opportunity to showcase the wider role of the fire service and their emergency service colleagues.
“This is about reaching out to the wider community and showing people what we do,” he said. “These days were not just about putting out fires, we do a lot of other things including home safety visits, training for CPR and also using the increasing number of public access defibrillators which are springing up. “We’re very much a community fire station and even have a meeting room we could let local groups use free of charge of they want to get in touch.” Mr Gerrard was keen to stress that the event was not “just for kids”, with the firefighters keen to recruit fresh faces to their ranks The fete is set to run from noon to 4pm – visit the fire station’s Facebook page for updates. Among the activities planned is a demo showing a driver being cut out a car.