Josephine Reynolds
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Be Brave

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Dave Holmes
I knew Jo during her service at thetford fìŕe Station amazing young woman and a really good book


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Thank you Khmer Times Such a beautiful article - I'm so touched 

#FIREWOMAN #jobsforgilrls #inspirational #authorlife 


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​"The UK’s first full-time female firefighter Jo Reynolds, 57, said she was horrified by the findings. 
She was 17 when she joined Norfolk fire service in 1982, but says today’s women firefighters have a much harder time than she ever did.
‘It sends shivers down my spine. It’s so awful,’ she says. ‘The majority of firefighters are not like that, but there’s enough of them to cause a big problem.
‘I faced sexism and misogyny, but the people I ended up working with were great. It was the old guard who didn’t like change, but I never felt any animosity towards me just because I was a woman.
‘Teasing was part of the culture, but I was never singled out and it happened to all of us. The guys I worked with were fun, but it seems to have gone nuts now.’
Ms Reynolds, who now works for an NGO in Cambodia, is involved with Women in the Fire Service UK which is now working with the National Fire Chiefs Council to create a code of ethics.
‘I try to be patient and say: “These things take time.” But 40 years on it’s still happening or getting worse,’ she says.
With one damning review published and two more under way, could female firefighters working elsewhere in the UK be ready to trigger another?"




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​Freeda En · 
“You’re a publicity stunt, you won’t last, you’re just here to make the brigade look good” and it hurt. I’d be crying when I was driving home. It just kind of gives you more energy to keep going when things are difficult” 




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"Take it from a pro, it’s time to upgrade to Flopro"
Thank you Westland Horticulture, for featuring me as a firefighter / gardener in this tongue-in-cheek ad. Enjoy!






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It was the first time I had met Alice, a serving firefighter. This LADbible show format has us asking each other questions that we hadn’t seen before picked up from the table between us. We then compared our experiences in our jobs, generations apart. Enjoy!





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An early interview in 2017 with BBC World News. I was invited to their studio to talk live about Fire Woman being published. The piece included archive press photos from jobs, and their footage of me passing my HGV test to drive the fire engine.


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.BBC World 100 Years Campaign. I was interviewed as part of the celebrations of women being given the vote in the UK.

 




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 I spent a month in Australia in 2019 at the invitation of Fire Rescue New South Wales. As part of my tour I chatted with the fire brigade there. This was at Melbourne Fire Brigade HQ with Steve O'Malley. 
This Podcast was sponsored by WAFA (Women and Firefighting Australasia Inc)


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​5 News. An interview with the then first female fire commissioner of London, Dany Cotton, celebrating International Women's Day. 





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​BBC News Live, an interview in front of the burned-out tower block that is Grenfell Towers.



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 An interview for The Book Club Mentoring Ass'.
  



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BBC Look East 1987. Archive footage interviewing Jo at Thetford fire station. She has just passed her test to drive the fire engine. 

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Natalie Freeman RCDPNatalie Freeman RCDP• 1st• 1stUEA Award Officer | MRes Social Science Research Methods student at University of East Anglia | AGCAS Skills Award Task Group member| National Careers Week CIC Management Group MemberUEA Award Officer | MRes Social Science Research Methods student at University of East Anglia | AGCAS Skills Award Task Group member| National Careers Week CIC Management Group Member18h • 
18h •


"I've watched this clip so many times and love it more every time! I was incredibly fortunate to have Josephine Reynolds at a careers event a while back and she really is one of the most humble, inspirational people I've met.
For those of you working in a careers setting with young people, this would be a great clip to show them. And Jo's book is one of very few I've started and finished in the same day!"

 


 


 "I have a first edition of Red Watch. Great read.I think I've read most on your list, but two I would recommend are, Lifting the Kid @Kfullen76 & Fire Woman @FireWomanJo1
Two excellent reads and books the majority of the FRS can learn from."


".. One of the best biography I have ever read"


"Josephine paved the way for females in the fire service and should be justly proud of her achievements. This book is an excellent record of her fire service adventure and is a first-class read.”

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​"This book is an excellent read! This one had me enthralled and I read it in just a few hours ! Brilliant insight into the world of firefighting and Jo's private life too .. had me laughing in places, crying in others ... fabulous"​
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​ ​"Diving head first into a career in the last bastion of masculinity, firefighting. The world back in a Thatcher led England in 1983 was much smaller and for a woman entering the fire service much tougher."

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FIREWOMAN 
Paperback, Audio-book or Kindle Edition, find on Amazon world-wide

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