In 1992, Mark started his career with Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue as a retained firefighter. He then joined the service as a wholetime firefighter two years later. Mark has spent all of this career in Lincolnshire and worked in and led several departments such as Organisational Development and Divisional Teams before taking on the role as Area Manger Response as part of the Senior Leadership Team in 2017.
Since that time Mark has taken on the role of Assistant Chief Fire Officer overseeing Response and Corporate Support and then progressed to Deputy Chief Fire Officer where he also undertook the role of Deputy Chair of the Lincolnshire Local Resilience Forum (LRF) and helped lead the county’s response to the Covid pandemic.
Mark took over as Chief Fire Officer in 2020 and then became the Chair of the LRF in 2022. Since becoming Chief Fire Officer Mark has joined the NFCC Finance Committee as representative for County Councils and has been part of the project team to develop the NFCC Supervisory Leadership Development Programme and has taken over the role as Project Executive from October 2022.
‘I am really pleased that UK Fire Cadets has joined our new NFCC Prevention Hub as part our offer to Fire and Rescue Service. I am looking forward to be seeing the role of Fire Cadets in action at our national events this year.’
I am extremely proud and honoured to have been selected as the new National Fire Cadet Manager for the UKFC.
I started working with young people in 1986 and I have never looked back. I have gained a vast amount of experience working in youth clubs, primary and secondary schools and referral units, and I loved every minute of it.
I joined Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service back in 2016, I have loved being able to have a direct impact on the health and well-being of young people, and to support them to make positive life choices with the help of colleagues and operational staff.
This is a really exciting opportunity for me, and with your help, I hope to continue to support staff to provide amazing opportunities to Fire Cadets across the UK.
Having joined Fire Cadets at the age of 13, I am very proud to now be in the role of Participation Officer for the NFCC UK Fire Cadets. I have been very fortunate since 2010 to have volunteered as a Fire Cadet instructor with Scottish Fire and Rescue, Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue and Cheshire Fire and Rescue Services, and remain a volunteer with the Dumbarton Youth Volunteer Scheme in Scotland.
Fire Cadets has had a huge impact on my own life and I hope my passion for cadets can help support the development of Fire Cadets across the UK moving forward. In particular, I am excited to work with our Fire Cadet Voice Forum and support individual Fire and Rescue Services with Youth Participation to ensure Fire Cadets are at the heart of developing UK Fire Cadets.