DFES Education & Heritage Centre

An amazing excursion that was unfortunately dampened somewhat by a volunteer with a lack of customer service skills. We visited in a group today but it was apparent from the offset that despite previous notification of our attendance, we were an inconvenience. The children had a great time exploring and Randall was abundant with information and his passion was infectious. The female volunteer I previously mentioned however, left a sour taste in many of our mouths.

My son absolutely LOVED his visit - as did we! Staff were so friendly and welcoming. Great for adults and children! Best of all, it’s FREE! Highly recommend!

What a wonderful interactive place with such friendly, helpful and informative staff. I'm not normally someone who writes reviews but I was so impressed by this place I just wanted to shout out about it. I took my 3 young children here and they had the best time trying on the uniforms, sitting in the fire engine and having a go on the climbing wall. Keep up the good work!

We randomly stopped as we were visiting the area and man, we were not disappointed. The building is beautiful inside and out and our guide Randall was the very best We were told lots of fascinating history but also funny stories about the fire fighters.
Can't wait for my son to be old enough to bring him there, dress up and hop on the truck for a great picture.
Also and for working parents, the place is open the first and third Saturday of every month

Highly recommend. The volunteers are so lovely and knowledgeable, and our 3 year old had such a good time dressing up and sitting in the fire truck, and exploring upstairs. Very educational too.

We went because my 2 year old son loves fire engines. I write this review with honest feedback as there were some pros and cons. I also write this from a business developer point of view as there are things that could be tightened up to improve the overall experience.

Pros.
Free entry, well maintained and enthusiastic volleys. Lots if history, great building and not to over whelming.

Cons.
I'm so sorry to say but the volunteers were 'too much' They are obviously very passionate about what they do which is fabulous, however they are very persistent and often repeating the same information.
For example, 3 volleys pulled us to the windows to show us the horses names written outside on the floor in remembence of the horses. This is just one example but it happened multiple times. The volleys wander round the whole museum unaware of what information you've already been told or seen, then they go all over it again.
Often pulling you in directions that you've been too or weren't planning to go to.

I had one lovely lady who almost showed us round the whole museum but was unable to pick up that my 2 year old son was uncomfortable with strangers. To make matters a little more annoying she was then telling me not to push him to do anything he doesn't want to I.e wear the fire clothes or get in the fire engine. Truth was he would, but didn't want to do it with someone he didn't know around. The volley told me around 5 times what to do with my son.

I feel bad writing this but there are a few things I would recommend to rectify this.
Have volleys stationed in each room. This way people can wander as they please without the worry of being fed repeated information.

If people are interested in a certain object then approach them and give them information.

Don't take visitors on a tour if they don't request it. Especially if they have little ones as they often are the ones to dictate where they want to go.

Have one person on entry welcoming visitors. But keep it short. The volleys almost have TMI that it becomes overwhelming very quickly.

To be honest I left early. I found the volunteers too much and were over whelming for my little one. He just wanted to hang with mumma and nanna.

I think if the volleys toned it down and had some guidance/structure it would be a much more enjoyable experience.

A well cared for museum in a lovely heritage building. There is lots to do and explore. Great that it is free for everyone. Kids had a good time; as did I.

This is a wonderful little museum with such great staff who help to explain the exhibits. Thank you for the experience. A great education for the kids.

Wonderful venue and some great exhibits for the kids too. We went on a Saturday and there was an amazing young guy from the SES who took loads of time to speak with my kids.

Absolute gem! Lovely little museum for the ones who are excited about the fire engines and the work of fire fighters. Entrance is free. Kids can get into a real fire engine and try on some helmets. Staff is superfriendly. We were visiting while there were a group of kids from school and their guide made it really interesting for the kids. There are also some books and puzzles to read and do with the younger ones. Strongly recommend to visit if you are in the city with kids.

Interesting and excellent for Young children. Staff were extremely helpful and went out of their way to entertain our grandson.

Fantastic centre, and open on Saturdays. Amazing heritage displays from the 1900's. Big thanks to Tom and Amy who showed me around and were more than happy to answer any questions that I had. They were knowledgeable and incredibly friendly, and seemed to genuinely enjoy being there. Seems like a great place to take kids as well

Great place for toddlers. They have clothes they can dress up in. Books to read. Colouring in (when no COVID) you can sit and pretend your a fire fighter.

An amazing place for the kids and has some fascinating info/history. The displays are presented very well and the staff were extremely friendly and helpful! Looking forward to going back.