GUEST COLUMN: Become a local hero, by damien West, station manager for NFRS

If successful, you could join a high performing group of people who dedicate their spare time to respond to incidents in and around the county and help protect their community.

We have 14 retained stations needing recruits but our priority stations are Warsop, Worksop, Misterton, Tuxford, Southwell, Collingham and Stapleford. Anyone can apply to be an on-call firefighter, the only criteria is that you must be over 18 years old by the time of the training course and live within the station boundaries.

Successful applicants will undertake 56 days training (fully paid) over a six month period. Once complete they will be trained to the same high standard as their colleagues and can attend incidents as soon as they are on station.

Recruits receive an annual allowance of up to £2905 per year plus payment for each call-out and training session they attend. Retained firefighters need to attend one training night per week and commit a minimum number of hours to be on call.

Whilst they are on-call they carry a pager that alerts them when they are needed to respond to the station; they then attend an emergency which can be anything from a road traffic collision to a building fire or a chemical incident.

So if you are looking for a challenge, fancy earning a bit of extra money or are keen to give something back to your community in a hugely rewarding role, then you have nothing to lose. Be a local hero. Visit www.notts-fire.gov.uk to apply before March 11.