ESSEX County Fire and Rescue Service (ECFRS) has joined up with Thurrock Well Homes scheme to help people stay safer in their homes.
The scheme, which is run by Thurrock Council, aims to improve the housing conditions and the health and wellbeing of residents living in private properties in Thurrock.
The partnership, which has just completed a three month pilot, has seen ECFRS’s home safety technicians and community safety officers refer residents who they feel would benefit from the services provided by Well Homes. Well Homes have been referring residents to ECFRS to fit smoke alarms as part of their home safety visits.
ECFRS’s Community Builder Lee Markwick said:
“This partnership has shown that by working together we can reach more people to make them safer in their homes.
“During the pilot, 160 home safety visits conducted in Thurrock by ECFRS resulted in 58 Well Home referrals, and 89 visits by Well Homes resulted in 18 ECFRS home fire safety visits.
“Due to its success, we are now looking to roll this project out to other councils and schemes in Essex”.
Karen Wiseman, Thurrock Well Homes said:
“Working with Essex County Fire and Rescue Service has allowed our service to reach many more people living in the area. This has given us an opportunity to make a real difference to the health and housing conditions of local people”.
