Handover of donation to the youth fire department of the Eschweiler Volunteer Fire Department
Social and community engagement is important to us at MVG every year. We are happy to get involved locally and make a contribution to society. We are particularly pleased to be able to support the youth fire department of the Eschweiler Volunteer Fire Department with a donation. It was also a great pleasure for us to hand over the donation on site.
We were able to welcome seven young people from the youth fire department and talk to them. They were accompanied by the head of the Eschweiler fire department, senior fire officer Axel Johnen, the deputy head of the Eschweiler fire department, city fire inspector Stefan Preuß, and the deputy head of the youth fire department, fire chief Kevin Cosslar.
Helping people as motivation
A total of 68 young people between the ages of 10 and 17 are currently active in five groups in the youth fire department; everyone aged 10 and over is welcome. “The work in the youth fire department is primarily characterized by exercises and sporting events, but also by joint activities such as excursions or game evenings,” explains Kevin Cosslar. The youth groups meet around three to four times a month.
Firefighting technology training takes place during youth work, which introduces those interested to the work of the fire brigade and provides them with age-appropriate training in theory and practice in the area of first aid. Responsibility, community, helping others and team spirit are the basic values that are taught to the young people and are lived in the volunteer fire department. Tobias is 15 years old and explains why he joined the fire department: “I want to be able to help people who can’t help themselves.”
Youth work as a source of young talent
Chief Fire Officer Axel Johnen emphasizes how important it is to introduce young people to the work of the fire brigade: “The youth fire brigade is our training ground for young talent; the young people can then complete basic training at the age of 17. Around 80-90 percent of those who complete this basic training come from our youth fire department.” Sometimes they even switch to the professional fire department after that.
Most people find their way into the fire department through friends or family, the annual fire department festival is also an important contact point for getting in touch with interested parties. Fabian also remembers that. He is 17 and part of the youth fire department: “I came to the fire department through friends, and at the fire department festival I was able to take a closer look at everything.” Our donation is now being used to promote young talent for the fire department and support the youth work, for example for a tent camp.
Anyone can take part in the youth fire brigade, even a non-binding try out is no problem. If you are interested, just take a look at the fire department’s website.
