Northamptonshire Fire Brigade pioneers archaeological support programme

A firefighter who has been unable to work said a project using archaeology to support his mental health “helps shape how I feel”.

Gary Noble, 57, from Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, is taking part in Operation Phoenix, an initiative by Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service to support the welfare of current and retired staff.

“We tend to internalise our pain, but the whole environment of archaeology is gentle, non-confrontational and fascinating and draws you in,” the watch manager said.

Mr Noble was “not at all interested” in the subject when he first met Mr Phillips at a rehabilitation centre run by the Fire Fighters Charity.

“I didn’t know anything about it other than Indiana Jones, and there’s so much more to it than I expected,” he said.

In the six months he has been with the team, he has participated in excavations and experimental archaeological projects, such as building an Iron Age roundhouse and carving a Bronze Age log boat.

Mr Noble joined Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue at the age of 33, after serving in the Royal Engineers.

His career at Cambridge came to an abrupt end in 2014, he said, when he was medically discharged after work-related injuries left him needing new knee joints.

He subsequently developed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after suffering injuries from an attack that drastically changed his life.

“PTSD can have a damaging effect on the lives of your wife, children and family. It can bring all sorts of problems, including anger. But my trauma therapy has been fantastic,” Mr Noble said.

He was anxious when he started Operation Phoenix, thinking, “All these scientists, I’m not going to deal with this.” But it has “helped shape how I feel.”

“There is no pressure and because you do the work yourself, you don’t think about anything other than what you are doing,” he says.

“And you get connected and see yourself as part of the bigger picture and how we evolved from the Stone Age to the Bronze Age to the Industrial Age, rather than in your own little world and the traumas in that little world.”

The pilot project is initially aimed at fire brigade personnel and retirees, but it is hoped that colleagues from other emergency services will eventually be involved as well.

Mr Phillips, a watch manager with 37 years’ experience, came up with the idea while watching the annual archaeology series Digging for Britain on BBC Two.

“I’m on the fire brigade welfare team and I kept seeing Operation Nightingale and thought I could do that for us,” said the enthusiastic amateur archaeologist.

“One of the great things about being a firefighter, whether you’re male or female, is that there’s still a macho image. We tend to internalize our pain.

“You don’t go home and talk to your partner about a car accident where a child died.”

With the permission of the fire brigade, he approached Ministry of Defence archaeologist Richard Osgood and started the project.

The pilot project started in 2022 and is overseen by the University of Leicester’s Department of Archaeology, with support from Breaking Ground Heritage Charity, Northamptonshire Archaeological Resource Centre at Chester House Estate and Stanwick Lakes Heritage Project.

Participants will take part in a year-long project to promote wellbeing by investigating the history of the Nene Valley and its people over the last 10,000 years.

“I think it works because it puts like-minded people in a non-challenging, new environment. Those people can enjoy the new experience together without having to explain to themselves why they need it,” Mr Phillips said.

Rob Porter, Assistant Chief Fire Officer at Northamptonshire Fire Brigade, who has supported the project from the outset, said: “It is important that our firefighters and fire service staff have the right resources and networks to support their wellbeing.

“Operation Phoenix has had a very positive impact on the participants, particularly in terms of increasing their self-confidence and giving them a sense of purpose.

“Aidan has done a fantastic job keeping the programme running since it launched a few years ago and we are very pleased, together with our partners, to continue to support the excellent results it is achieving.”