KEEPING US ALL SAFE,
MOST of us will spend Christmas Day opening our presents, watching festive TV and tucking into a scrumptious turkey dinner with all the trimmings.
So spare a thought for the hundreds of dedicated emergency services staff who will be treating patients and keeping us safe this December 25.
We’ve spoken to some of the individuals and teams who will be “working their stockings off” this festive period.
There might traditionally be five gold rings at Christmas but at DyfedPowys Police there will be just one gold commander taking the helm.
Powys Divisional Commander Superintendent Jon Cummins will be on call for 24 hours over Christmas Day.
This means he will be responsible for any firearms, public order, critical or major incidents across the force area during that time.
He said: “As I’m the Powys superintendent I will be working early morning to chair the Powys daily management meeting (DMM) with the management team, where we will review crime and incidents overnight, or any ongoing incidents, and I will then later chair the whole-force DMM.
“Both of these, I hope, will be short meetings as I don’t anticipate any critical incidents or investigation – but you never know, there have been major incidents in the force area on Christmas Day in the past.”
After the DMM and meeting with staff, who will cook a fry-up together in the morning, Supt Cummins will go home and be on call.
This is not the first time Mr Cummins, who transferred to DyfedPowys Police from the Met in 2014, has worked on Christmas Day – and has been on duty for the majority of them in his time as a police officer.
He said this year he will be able to spend the majority of the day with his wife and two children, although there will be the anticipation that he would be called in if there was a major incident.
“I have probably worked eight out of the last 10 Christmases,” he said. “I always thought that when I didn’t have kids that I would volunteer to work Christmas Day so I could have the payback when I did have a family.
“Unfortunately you move on to different roles in different teams so you don’t end up working with the same people who can offer that return.
“My children will probably be up at 5.30am because they’re so excited about Christmas so we’ll open our presents early and then I’ll come in to work. As long as everything is OK I hope to be back at home in time for dinner.”
Llanelli PC Ashley Crocker will be working his first Christmas Day as a response officer and plans to celebrate with a family dinner on Boxing Day before heading in to work for an afternoon shift.
“As a shift worker you know you might end up working Christmas Day so it’s expected,” he said.
“There was another officer who was down to work but he has children so I said I would come in. If you’re a parent you want to be with your children on Christmas Day.”
Sergeant Hana Edwards will spend her Christmas day at Aberystwyth custody suite.
She said: “I’m hoping we don’t have any prisoners in on Christmas Day as that would be a miserable Christmas for them.
“If we do have anyone come into a cell our role is to make sure they are well looked after during their time with us.
“We’re a bit like hoteliers, really, but without the luxury surroundings – and there won’t be any Christmas dinners on offer.”
Unlike some of the police stations around the force there are no festive decorations in custody.
Sgt Edwards said: “We don’t put Christmas decorations up in custody as we don’t want to rub it in the faces of anyone who ends up here.”
For many fathers Christmas is a time to be with their children. But one man from Newport is set to miss his baby daughter’s first Christmas - because he’s out saving lives as a fireman.
Working over the festive period is nothing new for 34-year-old dad-oftwo Ramzan Ali – he worked last Christmas Day too. It’s all part of the job for the firefighter from Newport.
But one thing Ramzan – who is known as Ram – is set to miss is watching four-month-old daughter Amber and three-year-old son Max open their presents from Santa.
“It’s her first Christmas and I’m missing out, unfortunately,” he said.
“Nobody really wants to work on Christmas Day, let’s be honest. Does anyone? But it’s a job isn’t it?”
Ram will be working on the day shift, from 9am to 6pm, saving lives and putting out fires.
He said: “We know we’re going to work the shifts – we get our shifts lined up for as long as we’re on the watch so I knew at the start of this year that I was going to be working Christmas so it’s not a big shock to me.”
The day itself is just like any other for Ram and the team at Duffryn Fire Station.
“It was pretty much the same as any other day really,” he said. “With regards to calls, you never know what you’re going to get. Sometimes it’s busy, sometimes it’s quiet.
“We have to check the equipment. We do what we need to get done.”
Ram joined the watch in Newport in 2012 after joining the Mid and West West Fire Service in 2009. Before that he worked for the fire service at Cardiff Airport.
But despite the hours Ram said he wouldn’t change it for the world.
“I love it,” he said.