Firefighters go the extra mile to raise charity cash
FIREFIGHTERS from Rawtenstall and stations across the county took part in a gruelling 24-hour treadmill challenge to raise more than £4,000 for The Fire Fighters Charity.
The firefighters went through the pain barrier in relay teams, between 12noon on December 21 until the same time the following day.
The teams’ efforts were tracked on treadmills within Lancashire Fire & Rescue Service (LFRS) gyms, and staff undertook Covid-compliant cleaning and social distance measures between runners.
Joining Rawtenstall were two teams from Blackburn, two from Leyland, and also crews representing Lancaster, St Annes and Ormskirk.
One extremely generous donor chipped in with a huge contribution of £350 on the Rawtenstall fundraising page, which has raised just short of £1,000 so far.
On-call firefighters Claire Moran and Joey Hawke were joined by station manager Mick Strickland and other participants throughout the day, as the Valley team racked up a hugely impressive 162 miles.
Claire told the Rossendale Free Press: “We are all pretty tired! For 24 hours we didn’t get any sleep. Some of the other teams taking part only had a team of four so we were fortunate. A few additional firefighters came down to support us during the night.”
An LFRS spokesperson said: “We’re very proud to announce that our firefighters completed this challenge and raised over £4,000 for The Fire Fighters Charity, and ran 987 miles!
“Some very tired firefighters and some very sore legs!”
Visit justgiving.com, search for ‘Rawtenstall treadmill challenge’ and follow link to donate.