Conner Fearn named as one of the winners in the Ian Thompson Bursary Award 2023

We are delighted to announce that Conner Fearn, a Grayce Analyst working within the Public Safety sector at Mason Advisory, has been named as one of four winners in the Ian Thompson Bursary Award 2023.

Since joining us in April last year, Conner has been supporting Irish Fire and Scottish Fire & Rescue Services with their requirements capture processes. He has also just started on another process mapping delivery with North Wales Police to assess and document their current business processes in readiness of a new platform. The award has been established to develop young talent within the public safety community and sponsor Conner’s development and learning to fund a study to review and identify recommendations to improve emergency call answering times. Conner commented: “I am honoured to be one of the inaugural winners of the Ian Thompson bursary award. This is a fantastic opportunity for newcomers in the industry, and I plan to use that opportunity to its full potential.”

The Ian Thompson Bursary award was announced in November 2021 in memory of Ian Thompson, the former Chief Executive of BAPCO, who sadly passed away in 2020. Ian was passionate about both critical communications and education, so the award will be a lasting tribute to his memory.

The award was open to applicants in the first two or three years of working or studying in the field of critical communications in public safety within the UK and Ireland; whether within a user organisation, employed by a supplier, or in full time studies. At the annual BAPCO networking dinner last Wednesday, Ian’s wife Amanda explained what the award meant to Ian’s family and presented the commemorative trophies to each of the winners.

Rob Watkins, Director of Public Safety, said:

“We are really pleased that Mason Advisory has been able develop, nurture and coach young talent. Conner’s award will help benefit the public safety community to research into the developments of next generation emergency and non-emergency call handling, feeding back into the British APCO membership and other key stakeholders.”

Grayce Director, Ruth Evans said:

“Les Watson from Mason Advisory has been a fantastic support and career champion to Conner since he joined Mason Advisory for his first assignment around a year ago. Les has ensured Conner has received continuous experience during this time enabling Conner to truly excel in his Grayce learning pathway and deliverables.  is an excellent example of the partnership between Grayce and Mason Advisory, and we are all looking forward to seeing how Conner benefits from his Ian Thompson Bursary.”

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