Charity launches social media platform exclusively for fire services community

The Fire Fighters Charity has today launched a free wellbeing, fundraising and social media platform, built exclusively for all serving, retired and supportive members of the UK’s fire services community.

My Fire Fighters Charity (MyFFC) is available to users via Android and iOS apps for mobile devices, as well as online, and aims to bring the UK’s diverse fire family together, while also offering individuals access to a wealth of wellbeing advice and information.

Tim Beynon, the Charity’s Head of Marketing and Engagement, led on the development of MyFFC and is excited about the difference it could make to people’s lives: ‘This is a real first for us and has the potential to help thousands more people with their health and wellbeing, as well as allowing them to stay connected with each other and with us,’ he explained. ‘As a charity, enhancing the health and wellbeing of our fire family is why we exist and the introduction of MyFFC means that we can now complement the face-to-face support offered to thousands, with life-changing digital support that can be shared with hundreds of thousands.’

Boasting an extensive library of health and wellbeing content – written by the Charity’s experienced practitioner team and tailored for the fire services community – MyFFC allows users to follow topics that interest them and to explore related content. Director of Beneficiary Services, Sharon Bailey, explained more: ‘Nothing like this exists for the fire services community. We’ve created this content with our community in mind, which means that – while our beneficiaries may be able to find information on many of the subjects elsewhere – they can have confidence that everything they read or watch on MyFFC has taken their profession into account.

‘We can do this because we have the experience to do so. Our practitioner team understands the fire services community and its needs. So, we want to share this expertise with those we support through MyFFC and also use this exciting new tool to hear directly from them in regard to the information they would like from us.’

Expanding further on this last point, Tim picked up on the diverse ways in which MyFFC users can interact with each other and with the Charity through the new portal: ‘In essence, this is Facebook for the fire service community,’ he said. ‘Many of the engaging aspects of traditional social media sites can be found on MyFFC, with users having confidence in the fact that the site is managed and moderated by the Charity. Users can, for example, follow others, join groups on specific areas of interest – including our regular fundraising campaigns – discuss content, ask questions, share their own media, run polls, share ideas, win badges, score engagement points and tell us directly what they think about it all. Indeed, we want the site to evolve and grow based on what our users tell us.’

Open to the entire fire services community, including those who work for fire services, those who are retired, their families and the Charity’s many supporters, users can join by registering today at www.firefighterscharity.org.uk/myffc or after downloading the MyFFC app from their device’s app store.