Stuart at the heart of his community

Stuart grew up in the small town of Wimborne Minster in Dorset, and just like his grandfather and father before him, became a volunteer firefighter as soon as he turned 18. Over the years, Stuart worked his way up the ladder to Station Commander at Wimborne and now oversees over 400 emergency calls a year. He’s part of a group of on-call firefighters who volunteer for the service in their spare time – when they’re not busy working their full-time jobs.

Since the start of the COVID pandemic, Stuart has also volunteered for the front-line ambulance service on the weekends. He was able to carry over his medical training as a firefighter to ambulance rescue and tends to all sorts of emergencies – from COVID cases to cardiac arrests, accidents and mental health patients.

Stuart works at Eaton, is on-call during the nights as a firefighter, and then works one or two shifts over the weekend with the ambulance service. In total, he spends about 7’000 hours a year volunteering. Next to this, Stuart is also finishing off his MBA at the University of Chichester, which is a 3-year program. So, it’s no secret that with so many responsibilities, finding the right balance is key.

To Stuart, it’s not about a work-life balance, it’s about a ‘life-balance’: “When I go to work, I don’t forget about my family life. And when I’m doing my other activities I don’t forget about work. It’s about making sure you have a life balance. Being able to step back, reflect and put things into perspective is really important to helping you move forward.”

Thankfully, Stuart’s family, as well as Eaton, have been very supportive of his efforts, and have encouraged him to keep learning and growing throughout his journey.