National Executive Committee

The Women in the Fire Service UK National Executive Committee (NEC) includes our Directors, Regional Representatives, Executive Members and Co-opted Members. This makes up our governing body – a maximum of 28 people. The NEC meets three times a year or more, to vote, share successes and report on projects. Our Local Representatives also attend these meetings, and although they are not part of our formal governance, Local Reps play an important part in the NEC.

Our committee meetings are a chance to raise issues and inspire change – bringing together people from Fire Services across the UK to share, reflect and learn. The NEC is also a great networking forum, where we celebrate inspired ideas, work and initiatives across Services. A great reminder of why we do it! The National Executive Committee meeting minutes are public and available here.

Meet some of our committee below!

Our Executive Members

Divine Zake – Communications

Divine joined the London Fire Brigade (LFB) in 1996 as a temp, becoming permanent in 1997.  She has had various jobs at LFB, and in 2015 joined the Resource Management Team as Team Supervisor.  In 2017 she received her 20 years Long Service Certificate.

Divine maintains she put her hand up by accident when they were voting in Executive Committee members and that’s how she got the role at WFS – now it’s a role she couldn’t possibly see herself giving up! She realised how important it was to have WFS when she was supported through a very difficult part of her life.  Being a part of WFS gave her chance to flourish and support other members, and inspired her to get rid of the so called divide between different occupational groups. WFS has helped her celebrate lots of wonderful things in life such as promotions and the birth of her grandsons.

Her role as Communications/Merchandise Officer has boosted her confidence and has given her the chance to enhance people and social media skills. Divine is the RMC/Control Rep but has also had active roles in other Support Groups not only in the London Fire Brigade but also in partnership with other partners in the GLA – which has included being part of the team which run the LGBT Leadership Programme in conjunction with Transport for London and the London Ambulance Service.

Favourite hobbies include juicing, dancing, walking with friends, hula hooping, trying to beat personal bests on Nintendo Wii and reading.

Jenny Nangle

Jenny’s journey is a testament to passion, dedication, and the impact one person can have across various domains. Her career in firefighting began with an unexpected spark of inspiration from a neighbour, transforming into a lifelong commitment that saw her excel in diverse roles within the fire service.

Starting as a firefighter with Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service, Jenny’s enthusiasm for training quickly became apparent. Her early role in leading and cascading training on station set the stage for her future as a trainer at Washington Hall. This role, which involved training both external organizations and Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service staff, proved to be highly rewarding and shaped her trajectory in the fire service.

As Jenny moved into leadership roles such as Crew Manager (CM) and Watch Manager (WM), she made significant contributions, including her involvement with fire cadets. Her leadership in planning the national training program for the National Fire Cadets and managing a cadet group at Bacup Fire Station highlighted her commitment to nurturing the next generation of firefighters.

Jenny’s transition into fire safety brought new challenges and opportunities. Her training as a fire safety inspector and her year at SHQ working on legal cases broadened her expertise. Currently, as a fire safety manager for the Pennine and Eastern area, Jenny continues to make an impact, utilizing her extensive knowledge and experience.

Her involvement with Women in the Fire Service (WFS) over the past 20 years underscores her dedication to supporting and empowering women in the fire service. Jenny’s role as the North West Regional Rep, organizing regional events, and her international work with Fire Aid, the IOM, and various refugee camps in South Sudan, Lebanon, and Nepal, reflect her commitment to global fire safety and community support.  More recently as an executive member for WFS Jenny hopes to continue the great work alongside amazing inspirational women.

Jenny’s story is one of continuous growth, learning, and sharing knowledge. The variety and depth of her experiences, combined with her passion for supporting others, have made her career both fulfilling and inspiring.

Karen Pointer

Karen joined Surrey FRS in January 1996 and was still one, of a handful of women, that had joined as a firefighter before her. She also worked for Kent FRS, however, decided to move back to Surrey in September 2022, where she managed several fire stations in the East of the County as the Response Group Commander. Karen has also worked with Joint Fire Control and now looks after the Prevention team in Surrey which includes the Community Safety Officers, Fire Investigation, Education officers and the Fire Volunteers.  She is also the Service lead for National Resilience and Road Traffic Collisions.

Karen loves the fact that she is still operational and gets to meet with the ops crews on a regular basis. She has had the best career ever and has been lucky enough to teach, BA, RTC, FBT and core skills as an instructor and has had interesting roles throughout her career. One of her favourite roles, was working as part of the Blue Light Collaboration and introducing gaining entry for welfare and co-responding to my service.

The first time Karen went to an WFS event was in November 1996 when they held their first AGM. It made her realise that although she was happy in her own service, that it wasn’t always the same in other services and realised the importance of this group and the support it was able to offer women all the way back in 1996! Karen is a strong advocate of WFS, and is passionate about people, supporting our staff or anyone who sticks their head above the parapet!

As far as Karen is concerned, she has been able to have her cake and eat it, she has a successful career that she loves, and is happily married with two beautiful daughters. She is living her best life and loves that she is surrounded by such inspiring woman and would love to be part of that support for others.

Lynsey McVay 

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.

Our Co-opted Members

Beth Barton

Bio coming soon

Janette (Jan) Morris GIFireE, PGCert

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 Thurston

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!  
 

Vicky Wallens-Hancock

Vicky joined Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service in 2005 as a risk analyst. Having undertaken various management positions within Cornwall, she was proud to be the first female principal officer in Cornwall, promoted to the role of Assistant Chief Fire Officer in 2017. Her responsibilities include people, assets and enabling services.

Vicky loves Cornwall and feels very lucky to spend time out of work with her husband, two amazing children and a crazy golden retriever enjoying what the beautiful Duchy has to offer. She is incredibly passionate about the fire service and became involved with WFS a number of years ago.

“If it hadn’t been for the amazing role models across our sector then I wouldn’t have had the confidence or courage to be where I am today. That is why I am so enthusiastic to be involved with this amazing network.”

Vicky became an Executive Member in June 2022 and undertakes a mentoring role for others both internal and external to her service.  Her commitment to being a positive role model extends to volunteering her time to work with young people as part of the Citizenship 4 Life programme in Cornwall.

Our Regional Representatives

Eastern  – Daisy Byron

Daisy’s journey with Bucks FRS began in September 2003. Starting as an Operational Fire Fighter, Daisy transitioned into the role of Full-Time Green Book Fire Safety Inspector in November 2015 after medical retirement.

In August 2019, Daisy took on the position of HMO Lead Fire Safety Inspector with Beds FRS. In November 2020 she was offered a temporary promotion to Area Fire Safety Manager for Development, followed by a permanent promotion in May 2021. This marked Daisy’s first time as a manager, responsible for leading a team of 12, a role earned after successfully passing the Middle Manager Gateway. Daisy celebrated 20 years service across 2 services (with no break in service) in September 2023 —an achievement that fills Daisy with pride.

After being invited to WFS Training and Development Weekend in June 2022, this reignited her passion for firefighting. Inspired by the experience, Daisy stepped forward to become the WFS Regional Rep. While currently holding the rank of AFSM, Daisy eagerly awaits the opportunity to pursue the Group Commander Gateway when it becomes available for Support Staff, a privilege currently limited to Grey Book staff.

Outside of work, Daisy enjoys time with family, caravanning, embracing the challenges of long hikes and wild camping, music and dancing.

East Midlands – Bex Sims

Bex joined Nottinghamshire FRS as an operational FF in 2013 after getting a taste for what the job entailed whilst working for Derbyshire FRS as a youth worker since 2018.  She spent 5 years in Notts working at different stations before going for promotion back in her home brigade of Derbyshire and became a Crew Manager in 2019.  Her CM role in the training centre was a great experience and she predominantly taught rescue subjects.  During this time she also became an on-call CM at Belper to keep her operational knowledge up to date.  In 2021 she became a Watch Manager and undertook a role in the Protection Policy department in HQ learning all about fire safety.  Recently Bex returned to station life and is now based at Ilkeston Green watch.
 
Bex is the co-chair of DFRS Gender network and really enjoys the rewards of supporting underrepresented groups and improving conditions within the service.  She has been a WFS member for over 15 years since her first event as support staff getting to experience being a FF for a day, and hasn’t looked back since.  She is now the local rep for Derbyshire and regional rep for East Midlands.
 
Bex has always enjoyed the vast array of opportunities that the fire service offers including sailing for the Siren Sisters all female team at the UKFSC event for 5 years, playing netball for Derbyshire’s Fire Angels, representing the UK Fire Service as a sailor in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race and winning the women’s event at the inaugural British Firefighters Challenge in 2016.
 

London – 

Bio coming soon.

North Eastern – 

Bio coming soon.

North Western – Sue Mallinson-Smitham

I joined WFS as a member in 2018 and attended the National Development Weekend, from there I was hooked.  
 
I joined Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service in 2008 as a Community Safety Officer and have had various roles within GMFRS.  In 2020 I became a regional rep and this coincided with starting a women’s network in the brigade with Paula Lyons who is a WFS Director.
 
The network has gone from strength to strength  and  in April 2024 held our regional event which sold out within days and was an outstanding success.
 
I now hold a secondment position full time within GMFRS as a Women’s Officer which is the first position of it’s kind in any UK  Fire and Rescue Service dedicated to empowering, supporting and growing women’s presence within the sector.
 

Scotland – Karla Stevenson

Karla joined the Fire Service in 2000 as an on-call firefighter, before joining as a wholetime firefighter.  She has worked in all three Service Delivery Areas (SDAs) in Scotland, and currently serves as a flexi-duty officer based in the Highlands of Scotland.

In her role as the Regional Representative for Scotland, Karla is supported by WFS Local Reps from within each of the three SDAs in Scotland.

Karla is passionate about the development of under-represented groups and ensuring that everyone feels that they have a place in today’s FRS. As a bladder cancer survivor, she now has a stoma, and is still able to do everything she did before, she just has a greater appreciation of life and all the opportunities it brings!

Karla is married and has a young daughter.

South Eastern – Ellie Hayes

Ellie has worked for Surrey Fire and Rescue for just over 4 years in the Community Safety Department, where they look after the most vulnerable living within their community.

She became the South East representative for WFS in June 2024, and is very excited about the possibilities the role offers! Ellie has always worked in male dominated environments, from the Army Reserves to the Fire Service, and feels that it is so important for women to be heard and celebrated in the work place!

Ellie loves to hike, play rugby, camp, read and push herself to new limits, she’ll rarely say no to a challenge!

South Western – 

Bio coming soon.

Yorkshire and Humberside – 

Bio coming soon.

Wales: Mid and West – Hannah Lodder

Hannah joined Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service in 1998. She worked in Warwickshire as a Leading Firefighter, Hereford and Worcester as a Leading Firefighter, Watch Commander and Firefighter in Business fire safety, Operational Intervention and on station.

She moved to Mid-West Wales on secondment in 2015 as a firefighter and was then seconded to the Strategic Risk Review Team as a Communication and Engagement Advocate.

She has been involved in Women in the Fire Service for many years and loves the support and to be part of a great group of women. Her current role is Wales Regional representative for WFS.

Wales: North – 

Bio coming soon.

Wales: South – Clare Amor

Clare has been the South Wales Fire and Rescue (SWFRS) women’s representative for WFS for 10 years.

She has worked for SWFRS for 15 years, starting on a retained station where she was crew manager, at the same time as working in the Fire crime department working closely with Gwent Police. After a lifesaving operation 16 years ago, Clare decided to apply for wholetime, and feels lucky that at the age of 48, she was successful.  She is now Crew Manager on Green watch in Duffryn Fire Station. Clare is the oldest female operational firefighter that SWFRS has had, and hopes to continue in an operational role until she finishes.
 
Clare is now 53, and has 2 children, well young adults; Briony is 26 and an A&E paediatric Sister and Morgan is 21, and he is a builder. She also has a staffy Bluebell, who is her baby and they go away together in her van for some peace and quiet.
 

West Midlands – 

Bio coming soon.