Festive feats raise over £7,000 for charity
Festive-spirited firefighters across Cambridgeshire raised more than £7,000 for charity as part of their annual Christmas sleigh rides and events.
With the help of friends, family and volunteers, crews at Yaxley, Linton, Littleport, Cambridge and Thorney organised sleigh rides and Christmas visits to raise £7,263 for The Fire Fighters Charity, a national charity that supports the everyday heroes of the UK fire community.
The annual Yaxley Christmas ride raised an impressive £2,980 in just five days. The ride has been a Christmas tradition for many, and is now in its 47th year.
Throughout the week the on-call crew, joined by their friends and family, escorted Santa Claus around the village spreading festive cheer to the local community.
They finished the week with a special visit with a fire engine to Dobbies Garden Centre in Hampton.
As well as doing a collection on their rounds, Thorney also spread the word about on-call recruitment, encouraging others to consider joining the on-call service.
They raised an impressive £1,063 in one night.
Station Commander Kevin Turner, the service’s charity coordinator said: “A huge thank to you to the community for their generosity and supporting our events again this Christmas.
“The donations from these events make a massive difference to the charity, which does some great work supporting fire service staff and their families, from our own service and others across the country.”
“These events wouldn’t happen without the great work of colleagues and volunteers, and we look forward to seeing what they have in store for Cambridgeshire for 2020.”