The third Bridgwater 999 Academy had a prestigious launch at the McMillan Theatre in Bridgwater last week.

It was attended by senior and high ranking police, fire and ambulance officers as the new Academy students were welcomed and inaugurated by chief fire officer Lee Howell from Devon & Somerset Fire and Rescue Service.

The first Bridgwater 999 Academy was launched in 2017. The original concept was created by responder manager Rob Horton of SWAST and Ian Dawson, formerly of Devon and Cornwall Police who wanted to create a youth engagement programme for young people to develop knowledge and understanding of the emergency services alongside volunteering opportunities and social action.

Previous students have gone into employment within the emergency services and others are training at the moment, such as Star Hancock and Ellis Pearce who are both trainee paramedics, and Lili Ibbotson and Owen Cheffey who are employed by Devon & Somerset Fire and Rescue Service as on-call firefighters.

The opportunities offered to the 999 Academy students are unprecedented as they go ‘behind the scenes’ with all three emergency services as well as have theory-based lessons delivered by operational police, fire and ambulance staff.

The students gain a hands-on approach to the daily duties and requirements of our emergency services and build up close, professional working relationships with the delivery team over the 18 month programme.

The application process for the current Bridgwater 999 Academy was extraordinary this year, with more than 100 applications from students across the three College campuses.

The applicants completed a rigorous process including fitness, dexterity and observation tests, concluding with a formal interview and 23 students being invited to join.

The evening was introduced by Andy Berry, Principle and Chief Executive of Bridgwater & Taunton College with family and friends joining the excited students to celebrate their success and congratulated them on their achievement.

Ruth Burrows, who developed the Bridgwater 999 Academy, said: “I was overwhelmed by the response to the application process this year as it shows how important this type of enrichment programme is.

“The Bridgwater 999 Academy is such an exciting opportunity for those young people who wish to learn about working within the blue light services and equally important as an opportunity for personal development and volunteering.”