Firefighters raise more than £5,000 from car washes
More than £5,000 has been raised by Cambridgeshire firefighters hosting car wash events as part of The Fire Fighters Charity National Car Wash League.
Crews from stations around the county dug out their buckets and sponges and welcomed people with all manner of vehicles, from cars and vans to children’s bikes and mobility scooters to raise money for the charity. The community came out in force to show their support for the crews.
Events took place in the places listed below raising the following amounts:
Saturday March 2
- Cambridge Fire Station - £860
- Huntingdon Fire Station - £634
Sunday March 10
- Papworth Fire Station - £510 (including a cake sale)
Saturday March 16
- Cottenham Fire Station - £925 (including £250 from a cake sale)
- Ely Fire Station - £1,300
Saturday March 23
- Sainsbury’s Superstore, March - £465
- Wisbech Fire Station - £800 (£400 of which was donated to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution)
At some of the events, crews had additional support. At Wisbech a group of students from the College of West Anglia’s Uniformed Services courses joined the event to help raise money. They also chose to donate half the total to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. The events at Cottenham and Papworth also included cake sales to help raise money.
Crews were also supported by local businesses during their events. Branches of Tesco, Sainsburys, Halfords, Dominos, Do It All, McDonalds, Fitzbillies of Cambridge, Nandos and Drainco Services all pitched in with donations to keep the firefighters and volunteers going.
In total, £5,094 was raised for The Fire Fighters Charity to help them continue providing support to the fire service community. For more than 75 years the charity has given support and rehabilitation help to serving and retired members of fire and rescue staff and their families.
Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service Chief Fire Officer Chris Strickland said: “I’d like to say a big thank you to everyone that has supported our events this month. This is a fantastic total to raise and we continue to be amazed by the generosity of the public and local businesses when we host these events. It really is very much appreciated.
“The support from these events makes 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. The charity relies solely on donations so the support given this month by everyone is very welcome.”
There are lots of ways to support The Fire Fighters Charity, from taking your vehicles to the car washes, to donating clothing to the charity textile recycling banks, to taking on personal challenges. You can find out more about the charity by visiting https://www.firefighterscharity.org.uk.
Keep any eye out on our social media accounts for updates on upcoming charity events that you can get involved with.
Photos from the car washes can be found in the News 2019 folder on the Service's Flikr account: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmCw9n1N
For more information please contact the Media and Communication team by emailing pressoffice@cambsfire.gov.uk.