Scottish FRS College Gullane runs its last course

The last course to take place at the SFRS College Gullane passed out on March 13th 2015. A former hotel building, the Scottish FRS College Gullane, East Lothian provided recruit training for each of the eight preceding fire and rescue services in Scotland – as well as specialist training for Fire Officers since it opened in 1954.

Coinciding with a ceremony to mark the College’s closure and the transfer of training to SFRS College Cambuslang, today featured the College’s final course dismissal and flag ceremony, as well as speeches from Chief Officer Alasdair Hay and Diane Vincent and a presentation of heritable assets to SFRS College Cambuslang.

SFRS will continue to provide its high level of training and development, that will enhance both the local communities and the safety of firefighters across Scotland, at its purpose built facility in Cambuslang.

Cambuslang has been specifically designed and created to realistically simulate the diverse range of highly-challenging and emergency situations faced by our crews.

A number of heritable assets will be moved from SFRS College Gullane, including the site’s college bell, which will be presented to SFRS College Cambuslang.

Chief Officer Alasdair Hay said: “I feel that today is of mixed emotions for all of us who have spent many a time in this College. Thanks to all the staff in the past and present who have worked here and I hope the spirit of these people will transfer to our college in Cambuslang.”

Gullane has served the Scottish Fire and Rescue Services proudly and well for more than 60 years and will remain as an SFRS asset until it is sold. SFRS has been working closely with East Lothian Council to ensure that any future plans for the site would both maximise capital receipts and also help to deliver for the needs of the local area.

SFRS College Gullane will close its doors on 31 March.

The final graduates of SFRS College Gullane were;

Alpha Squad; Ben Brown, Norman Dunnett, Barry Loat, Michael Kean, Jamie Callaghan, Alasdair MacLeod, Derek Hawkes and Ryan Murdoch.

Bravo Squad; Bryan Smith, Euan Edgar, John McIntyre, Jamie Bryant, Russell Armstrong, James Maitland, Ian Kerr and Greg Allan.

Charlie Squad; Dean Thomson, Keith Guthrie, Jon Robertson, Scott White, Craig Conner, Darren Traynor, Lisa Murray and Stuart Thomson.

Delta Squad; Kevin Clark, Jared Knoa, Christopher Rodger, Scott Park, Paul Donachie, Andrew Cartner and Christopher Monney.

SFRS College Gullane – Quick Facts

Opened in 1954
Is located 19 miles away from Edinburgh
Consists of seven buildings including a real fire training facility and BA tactical building
Has trained in excess of 1000 firefighters per year over the last 60 years
Offered a diverse portfolio of courses including Incident Command, Fire Safety and Instructor training.

In the 23 months since the inception of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, the college has trained: