RescueSkills supply First Aid and related Health and Safety courses in Hampshire, West Sussex and surrounding areas.
We are based in Fareham, Hampshire, but travel far and wide to deliver courses.
RescueSkills was started initially in late 2011, solely to deliver the RLSS NPLQ courses,
and although we had been training first aid for many years, at that time, we could not deliver first aid
courses directly to clients because of terms and conditions of our employer - a leading national first aid training and
services organisation, who would have deemed it a conflict of interest, and would have terminated our employment. When
that organisation decided in 2012 to change our terms and conditions, and reduced our rate of pay (by a huge 25.4%),
it was a fairly easy decision to make that we would start delivering first aid courses in our own name, and to part
company with the commercial training side of the voluntary organisation we had up until then supported fully.
Our mission is to deliver courses of high
professional standards at a cost effective price to as many people as possible to allow them to have the confidence to save lives.
All our courses are delivered by experts in their fields - can you be sure of that with other training providers?
All our trainers are personally known to us, and are colleagues we have worked with for many years. We do not just
seek trainers at the last minute for courses, and do not take trainers on a first-come-first-served approach unlike
some 'national' companies who are in fact nothing more than booking agencies.
Make sure your staff are being trained by currently serving experts in First Aid and Health & Safety.
The business is owned and managed by John Dowdeswell, who has a wealth of experience in first aid and related subjects.
John personally delivers many of the courses, but has healthcare professionals, pre-hospital care experts, and
health and safety experts to call on where additional advice or recommendations beyond his experiences may need to be made
to clients.
If you are an RLSS/IQL approved training centre, and are looking to run a Pool Lifeguard course for a team, please feel
free to call or email us at
for details of competitive pricing using your facilities and our trainer.
A list of courses that we offer is now available. If you can't find
a course that matches your requirements, please don't be afraid to ask us.
Why choose RescueSkills for your training course?
We have many years of experience delivering first aid training. Although RescueSkills was started in 2011,
all our trainers have been delivering first aid training, almost daily, for in excess of 20 years - we know what
helps learners to achieve the learning outcomes.
We only use fully qualified professional trainers, with large amounts of experience in the subjects they teach, and who
maintain competency in the subjects they deliver with regular continual professional development (CPD).
We offer regular "open" courses for individuals from businesses and the public, or can offer "closed" courses on-site
at your venue for small groups of your staff, saving your business money.
We offer cost effective training, and can sometimes be significantly cheaper than some of the UK's leading
first aid training providers, whilst offering a superb quality of training.
We hold accreditation with key Ofqual Awarding Organisations who ensure we meet stringent quality standards for the
delivery of the regulated courses. This absolves you of the responsibility to carry out due diligence prior to choosing
us as your training provider, as it has already been carried out, in great depth, by experts in the awarding
organisations.
We use quality training equipment to give our learners the most realistic experiences that can be achieved on a training
course. We have invested heavily in equipment such as resuscitation manikins and AED trainers, to provide an
adequate quantity for our learners. We do not skimp and try to save money by not providing course books - everything we
do is to benefit the learner.
We are a very small business, offering a friendly personal service. Messages do not get passed on to trainers third
hand from a central booking office in a different county, so the trainers understand exactly what is required for
clients.
We do not short-change learners. If a course is programmed for a set number of hours of guided learning, that is what the
learners will receive. We will aim to give the learners as much information as we can (that is relevant) within that
time. All too often with other organisations we have seen learners being allowed to go home early. Whether this is
because the trainers do not have the background knowledge to impart to learners, or whether the learners have not had the
opportunity to practice enough, it is unfair on the learners and the companies they work for, and could be risking lives.
We will do our best to not mis-sell our clients a course. Again, too often we have seen clients being booked in for
courses that are completely unsuited to what is required. We can discuss your needs, explain the options, and help you
select the right course. If necessary, we can construct a bespoke course for your learners.
