National Executive Committee

Karen joined Surrey Fire and Rescue Service as a firefighter in January 1996, at a time when she was still one of only a handful of women to have joined the Service operationally. After a career spanning more than 30 years, including time with both Surrey and Kent Fire and Rescue Services, Karen retired from the fire service on 31 March 2026.

Throughout her career, Karen was passionate about remaining operational and maintaining that connection with firefighters and crews. She progressed through the Service to Group Commander and held a wide variety of roles, including managing fire stations, leading Prevention, working with Joint Fire Control, and taking responsibility for areas including National Resilience and Road Traffic Collisions.

Karen was also fortunate to spend part of her career as an instructor, teaching Breathing Apparatus, Road Traffic Collision, Fire Behaviour Training and core operational skills. One of her favourite roles was working within Blue Light Collaboration, where she was involved in introducing gaining entry for welfare and co-responding. She considers herself incredibly fortunate to have had such a varied career and still describes it simply as the best career she could ever have wished for.

Karen’s involvement with Women in the Fire Service goes back almost as far as her firefighting career. She attended her first WFS event in November 1996, when the organisation held its first AGM. Although her own early experiences within the fire service had largely been positive, meeting women from other services made her realise that this wasn’t everyone’s experience. It showed her just how important WFS was, and how powerful a network of women supporting other women could be.

Thirty years later, that belief is as strong as ever. Retirement from the fire service certainly hasn’t meant retirement from supporting its people. Karen remains hugely passionate about supporting women working throughout the fire and rescue service, whether they are operational firefighters or members of support staff. She is particularly passionate about encouraging those who challenge the status quo, speak up for others, or are brave enough to stick their head above the parapet.

Karen believes that women should be able to have long, successful and fulfilling careers in the fire service without feeling that they have to change who they are to succeed. She wants to use her experience to encourage, mentor and support others and, where she can, make the path a little easier for the women coming behind her.

Looking back, Karen genuinely feels that she has been able to “have her cake and eat it”. She had a career she loved, remained operational throughout it, worked alongside some incredible people and, most importantly, has a wonderful family, including her husband and two daughters.

She may have hung up her fire kit after 30 years, but she hasn’t hung up her passion for the fire service, its people, or for Women in the Fire Service. She remains proud to be surrounded by inspiring women and hopes to continue being part of that support network for many years to come.

Lynsey is currently Assistant Chief Fire Officer in Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service. She began her career as a firefighter in Cumbria in 2000, moved to Cheshire as Group Manger in 2015 and onto Tyne and Wear as Area Manager in 2018, she has been ACFO since December 2020.

She has been involved with WFS for many years and is passionate about the development of women.

In her spare time Lynsey enjoys spending time with her son, family and friends and she enjoys going to the gym and walking.

Bio coming soon……

A biography will be provided following the appointment of an Executive Member.

Beth joined South Wales Fire and Rescue Service as an on-call duty system firefighter in 2021. Despite a desire to join the fire service from a very young age, it took until she was 39 to finally become an operational firefighter and she is currently a temporary Crew Manager on station, combining the on-call role with her primary employment as a consultant in intensive care and pre-hospital medicine – a job that includes working both in hospital and as a HEMS doctor on the air ambulance in Wales. As part of her job, she is also an examiner for the Faculty of Pre-Hospital Care for the new multi-agency diploma in major incident management (DipMIM), as well as clinical exams and currently holds the national IBTPHEM Curriculum Committee chair, so has spent many years working alongside fire service colleagues but in a different uniform!

Beth has a strong interest and broad experience in delivering training, from teaching doctors and paramedics on national training courses through to volunteering training healthcare professionals and volunteers Uganda and carries this through to her fire service role where she regularly volunteers to assist delivery of practical training. In 2024 Beth joined one of the service vehicle extrication teams and was fortunate to qualify through the regional UKRO competition to represent the service at the national championships in Portsmouth as the only female extrication team member from the service, as well as joining with another female firefighter from her initial on-call recruits course to make SWFRS first all-female trauma team!

In 2023 Beth had her first experience of WFS at the national training and development event, which she found to be an incredible experience meeting women from services at all levels from across the UK in an incredible and beyond and hasn’t looked back! After volunteering to join the organising committee for the 2024 event, Beth also attended as a volunteer “purple shirt” where she was also awarded the “Rising Star” award at the annual WFS awards ceremony and was elected onto the National Executive Committee, before also supporting the first WFS Cymru event hosted by SWFRS later in the year.

Ceri joined Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service as Chief Fire Officer in September 2022, and is also the national lead for Health and Wellbeing on behalf of NFCC

She has over 25 years’ experience spanning the private and public sector. In addition to her previous work within Norfolk County Council, including Director of Community, Information and Learning, Ceri has experience in management consultancy, as well as in house roles for firms such as Centrica and British Airports Authority as Organisation Development, Passenger Insight Lead and Head of Customer Strategy

Jan joined Avon Fire & Rescue Service as a Firefighter in 1998, one of only 8 women (less than 2% of the operational workforce) at that time. She enjoyed her time as a firefighter, particularly driving and was lucky enough to serve at a large, busy wholetime station in the centre of Bristol for several years before becoming a Leading Firefighter at another busy Bristol station.

Before taking up the role of Sub Officer in Training, Jan had stints in the Equalities Department and with the Arson Task Force, which was a joint initiative with Avon & Somerset Police. After enjoying her time in Training, Jan became a Watch Manager in charge of a Day Crewing Station, which became wholetime during her tenure.  Jan undertook various Station Manager roles, her favourites being Technical Services and Avonmouth station, which enabled her to develop her operational knowledge further due to the operational risk on the station ground. In 2018 Jan joined HMICFRS on a two year secondment as a Service Liaison Lead, heading up inspections in Shropshire, Staffordshire and West Midlands fire services, before joining Gloucestershire FRS on secondment as a temporary Area Manager. During this time she was successful at achieving an Area Manager position in Shropshire FRS, where she stayed until leaving in May 2024.

Jan has been a committed and active member of WFS since 1999, and is passionate about inclusion and in using her knowledge and experience to help develop others to progress in the workplace.  She is an active coach and mentor on the NFCC Coaching & Mentoring portal.

Nicky joined East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service in 2002, to manage the training administrative function, she subsequently had roles in Learning and Development, giving her skills in coaching, assessing, training and supervision.  In 2015 a redeployment opportunity changed everything and she went back to school gaining a Msc in Managing Diversity and subsequently a CIPD HR Management Diploma.

She joined Kent Fire and Rescue Service in 2019 as their EDI Manager. Having found her sense of purpose and her voice, Nicky is passionate about the success of WFS, she has advised the NFCC, the Inclusive Fire Service Group, HMICFRS and the Home Office on a range of inclusivity matters,  she has worked with Fire Aid and Operation Florian overseas to improve gender outcomes and is an active member all the national employee groups.

Similar to many other women, Nicky has found the menopause tough going, but with some help from friends at WFS and a good GP things are improving, like her home, she is “work in progress”.  Nicky has an extended family and a reasonably sized kitchen table so loves to be social with them, she is also excited to have newly acquired a gym membership!