Richard Welch

Richard joined London Fire Brigade in 1996. He worked across a number of Fire Stations across South East and South West London before moving to work in East London establishing the Local Intervention Fire Education (L.I.F.E) project working with difficult to reach young people for which, in 2003 he received the prestigious Mayors London Day Award for Improving the lives of Londoners. His community engagement work led him to deliver training to Fire and Rescue Services across the UK and to other countries around the world including Spain and New Zealand.

In 2009 Richard was promoted to Station Manager for East Ham rescue station and later Poplar Fire Station before being promoted to Borough Commander for Bexley in South East London and went on to become Borough Commander in the London boroughs of Southwark and Lambeth before being promoted to Deputy Assistant Commissioner within regulatory fire safety in 2017. Between 2019 and 2022 he has been Deputy Assistant Commissioner for the South East Area of London and then North East Area.nding time with. His hobbies are cycling and travel.