Excellence celebrated at fire service awards

09/02/2026

Outstanding work achievements and exemplary service were recently celebrated at Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service’s annual Excellence Awards.

The ceremony, held at the Delta Hotel by Marriott in Huntingdon last week recognised the outstanding accomplishments of colleagues throughout the year, along with celebrating the dedication and commitment of those serving for 20 years or more.

Hosting the event was Chief Fire Officer Matthew Warren together with Deputy Chief Fire Officer Jon Anderson, with Assistant Director Hayley Douglas and Assistant Chief Fire Officer Stuart Smith, leading the ceremony in front of around 120 guests.

The following awards were presented throughout the evening:

Long Service and Good Conduct medals - presented under a Royal Warrant for members of the uniformed service after completing 20 years of long and meritorious service to the fire and rescue service and the public. These were presented by the Deputy Lord Lieutenant for Cambridgeshire, Mr Christopher Walkinshaw DL.

Long Service presentations - colleagues were celebrated for reaching 20 and 30 year milestones of service, also presented by the Deputy Lord Lieutenant.

Fire Authority Chair’s Awards - an award made to retired employees and leavers that have completed at least 25 years' service.

Excellence Awards - these are the Service’s internal awards that reflect a variety of different achievements that were nominated by colleagues and chosen by a judging panel.
Silver Axe presentation – for each new recruits course, one member is chosen by the training team to win the silver axe. It is awarded to a recruit who demonstrates high levels of skill and leadership or for their personal journey.

Chief Fire Officer Matthew Warren said: “Celebrating the achievements of our staff at our Excellence Awards is one of the highlights of the year. It’s about recognising our people for their outstanding and selfless commitment they give to the Service and our communities.

“It’s a tremendous honour to present each and every one of our awards. I truly am proud of our Service, for all that our colleagues achieve and for all that we deliver. It’s our staff that make it possible to deliver the great service that we do.

“Being able to celebrate our employees’ achievements in this way would not be possible without the continued support of our sponsors. I must say a big thank you to all the organisations that contributed to the evening.”

The cost for the event was paid for by the generosity of the following organisations: Systel, SCC, TruckEast and Scania, Airway, Supply Plus, Max Fire Services, Weber Rescues, Interspiro, Emergency One and Hunter Apparel Solutions.

The list of awards and recipients are included below:

Long Service and Good Conduct medal recipients

Awarded after completing 20 years' long and meritorious service to the fire and rescue service and the public.

• Craig Ayres – Yaxley Fire Station
• Samuel Hall – Burwell Fire Station
• Mark Hodges – Operational Support Group
• Carla Levens – Fire Control
• Kevin Partridge – Training Centre
• Marcus Rawlinson – Burwell Fire Station.

Long Service presentations

30 years’ service:

• Scott Feveyear – On-call Support Officer
• Wayne Swales – Head of Community Safety and Fire Control.

Fire Authority Chair's Award

Presented to staff that have recently retired or left the Service having completed at least 25 years' service.

• Russell Gooderham – Kimbolton Fire Station
• Graham Morgan – Thorney Fire Station
• Bob Smith – St Neots Fire Station.

Excellence Award Winners

• Matt Beare - for determination, compassion, resourcefulness, professionalism and strength during an in-water incident rescuing a casualty. Others involved in the rescue were unable to attend. This award was presented by gold sponsors Scania and TruckEast.
• Sam Pumpr – for bringing Christmas joy to over 150 children with the Wisbech Christmas toy appeal.
• Catherine Wenban and Lynette Chimukuche – for doing an incredible job in rolling out the DBS uplift programme.
• Joe Gacon, Lily Wilkanowski and Aileen Wilson (from Essex County Fire and Rescue Service) – for partnership and collaboration working to create a complex bespoke support package for a vulnerable adult.
• Jeff Whitlam and Gary Reach - for outstanding professionalism, dedication and integrity in relation to the successful prosecution of a difficult case under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
• Rob Austin and Sophie Fox – for spotting an opportunity and delivering an excellent piece of work to ensure those who reside on house boats receive Home Fire Safety visits.
• Dan Hall – for exemplary leadership and decision making at a challenging person’s reported incident involving arching cables at a farm.
• Matt Oram – for compassion, teamwork and going above and beyond to ensure family wishes could be met following the passing of a friend and colleague.
• Adam King - for the creation and development of the new Firefighter Information Recruitment events.
• Kelly Carruthers - for commitment, professionalism and overall hard work following three separate nominations throughout the year.
• Matt Morris and Scott Fretwell – for their actions whilst off duty at a sadly fatal road traffic collision involving a car and lorry.
• Clive Allen - for professionalism, commitment, and bravery rescuing a casualty from a building fire.
• Malcolm Cornwell - for using Service learnt skills to deliver CPR whilst off duty on holiday.
• Joe Gacon - for commitment, professionalism and overall hard work following four separate nominations throughout the year.
• Callum Hodgkin - for responding to a voluntary Goodsam app alert during a Firebreak course and delivering life saving care. His actions were an inspiration to the students on the course.

Chief Fire Officer Award

This was chosen by the chief fire officer out of all the awards presented on the night. This was presented to Dan Hall.

Silver Axe presentation

On-call firefighter Rob Fox from Gamlingay Fire Station was presented with a silver axe award for being the stand out on-call recruit of the year.

 

The Service also recognised colleagues that won external awards over the last year

Hayley Douglas – presented with a Carolyn Lazarus Best Individual Contribution award by the national Menopause Friendly Employer Awards. The Service was also presented with two other awards.

 

More photo are available on Flickr: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCJEog