CALDICOT Town Team welcomed many residents and tourists to its annual ‘999 Emergency Services Day’ on Sunday, June 15.

In its ninth year, local teams from the police, ambulance services, firefighters, coastguard, mountain rescue, blood bikes, sea rescue, South Wales 4x4, and the AA gathered in Caldicot Castle on a warm afternoon.

The day allowed the community to speak with its local emergency teams, and learn more about what they do to keep us safe. It also allowed the emergency teams to get more insight into what the community expects from them, and receive positive comments about their work.

Residents were able to sit in some of the vehicles, watch as the sirens were operated, take up-close photographs of the emergency vehicles, and even have selfies with some of the emergency service team members.

Aaron Reeks, Voluntary Director of Caldicot Town Team said: “The day went really, really well. We were really pleased to get such good weather, and such a good turn-out even on Father’s Day.”

While this year’s event took place on Father’s Day, it normally occurs during the summer holidays, but this year had to be brought forward because Caldicot Castle was already booked for that time.

While entry to the castle is free, the annual emergency services day has a small fee. This year, it was £3 per person, or a family ticket. The money raised from this goes towards another community event which the Caldicot Town Team runs every year; the Family Fun Day, held in Caldicot Town Centre.

This is a completely free event which receives huge praise from the community, such as last year’s animal show. This year’s event takes place on Friday, July 25 and the theme is ‘old school’, which will include nostalgic games and attractions.

Events like the Emergency Services Day are very meaningful and important to the local community. Aaron said: “For the feedback we get, it’s a really feel-good day where people can do things with the ambulance service learning CPR, working with the coastguards and finding out about water safety, working with the fire brigade learning about home safety, sitting in the police car and turning on the sirens, wearing a police helmet - all that kind of stuff.

“It’s just really great exposure and engagement for the emergency services, and it’s fantastic for the public to get up-close, feeling they’re part of it.”

These events are entirely run by volunteers who spend a lot of time and effort putting them on for the community, and this work is often reflected by comments given by happy attendees.

Aaron said: “The entry fees aren’t profit-based. They all back into making more diverse events and increasing the footfall within the town. That’s our purpose, and I’m proud of all the work our volunteers do.”

Next year, the volunteer-led team will celebrate the event’s tenth anniversary, and there are already some big plans being worked on, with hopes for some amazing displays.

You can keep up to date with everything the team is doing via its Facebook page, or via the website.