Appeal for volunteer guides at SkillZONE

The centre in Tuffley, run by Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service, is an interactive, life-size indoor village with home, community, road and cyber zones, which has welcomed thousands of visitors since it opened in 2012.

It is a fully interactive learning environment that helps people to recognise a range of dangerous situations, from road safety to online, so they can stay safe.

Volunteers at SkillZONE play a key role in showing groups of people, including school children and community groups, around its safety village.

The volunteers enjoy the warmth and friendliness of the centre and the opportunity to meet new people, as well as learn new skills and pass on vital safety messages that serve children well for the rest of their lives.

More volunteers are now being recruited so they can benefit from the fun and enriching experience that volunteering offers while helping to promote the important safety advice to visitors.

Volunteers at the centre come from all walks of life and have spoken about how fulfilling and enjoyable the work is.

Taylor, one of the volunteers, said: “I was doing a college course and decided that volunteering was important so I came to SkillZONE and did volunteering every Tuesday and fell in love with the place.”

SkillZONE would ideally like to recruit an extra 10 to 15 people and are especially keen to widen their volunteer demographic by encouraging younger people to join, along with people from more diverse communities.

Volunteers should be aged 18 and over and full training and support will be provided. You would be asked to give a minimum of two days a month, Monday to Friday, and in return have the chance to become a highly valued member of the SkillZONE team and an ambassador for the centre in your community.

Find out more information and apply!

If you can't access the SkillZone website using the link above, please search 'SkillZone GFRS' on your provided browser.

Cllr Dave Norman, cabinet member with responsibility for the Fire and Rescue Service and road safety, said: “Volunteers play a key role at SkillZONE in delivering community safety messages and helping people of all ages to learn lifesaving skills. Volunteering is very rewarding work and makes a real difference to the community.

“This is a great opportunity to gain work experience and valuable skills so I would encourage anyone interested to please apply.”