South Wales Fire and Rescue Service celebrates International Women’s Day
This year we are proud to support the United Nations (UN) International Women’s Day theme ‘Equal rights. Equal opportunities. Equal power’ as we reflect on our journey so far to create a more equal workplace for everyone, and not allowing gender to be a barrier to accessing opportunities.
Following the Fenella Morris culture review, we have introduced several key initiatives to support our female staff, including:
Maternity Policy – We’re committed to supporting the women of the service in an equal and inclusive workplace, offering 52 weeks of paid maternity leave for eligible employees after a review of our maternity provision.
Menopause awareness within the service – We recognise that experiencing menopause symptoms can be a challenging and stressful time.
A new menopause awareness e-learning course has been developed and launched internally, for all staff. We are encouraging as many people as possible to complete this 30-minute course, to gain a better understanding around the menopause and the impact it can have on the women around us.
We have set up a self-referral form for anybody who needs to access Occupational Health for menopause-related support.
Strategic goals to diversify our workforce – We have taken steps to change the perception of roles within the fire service, focusing our media campaigns to help more women to see role models within the service, and to encourage them to consider applying for our operational and corporate roles.
We have also introduced a “Female Only Workout with the Watch” session, to provide a space where women can come together to test their fitness against our firefighter recruitment requirements.
One of our highlights of last year was hosting the first-ever All Wales Women in the Fire Service event at our Cardiff Gate Training and Development Centre. It was an incredible experience bringing together over one hundred corporate and operational staff from the three Welsh services, providing an opportunity to network, learn from each other, and feel empowered in their roles.
We are excited to announce that we will be hosting this year’s All Wales Women in the Fire Service event for the second time, at our Cardiff Gate Training and Development Centre in October.
The 23rd Women in the Fire Service National Training and Development Event will be held from June 20th – 22nd 2025, at the Fire Service College in Moreton-in-Marsh. The event is open to all roles within the Fire and Rescue Service.
As we continue our journey, we remain committed to ensuring that our policies, initiatives, and workplace culture supports everyone—regardless of gender. We want to create a place where all individuals can thrive and feel empowered.